Shippensburg University, through the work of Ship Votes, a non-partisan coalition of students, faculty, staff, and administrators, is once again named a Voter Friendly Campus. Ship is one of only 231 schools from 37 states to receive this prestigious designation awarded by the Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

The mission of the Voter Friendly Campus designation is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process. Ship was evaluated based on a campus plan to register, educate and turn out student voters in 2020 and an analysis of Ship’s efforts in the upheaval caused by a global pandemic.

Each year Ship Votes works to maximize voter registration and participation among students through a variety of tactics including, registration drives, rides to polls and in-person and digital engagement and education campaigns.

“The Voter Friendly Campus designation affirms and bolsters the hard work of the students, faculty, and staff that steer ShipVotes. We are proud of the designation and we look forward to continuing our work connecting students with civic engagement and civic literacy concepts and resources, both on national and local elections,” said Eyoel Delessa, faculty co-leader of the Ship Votes coalition.

During the 2020 election, Ship Votes partnered with the university Athletics Department to launch the #OneShipVotes campaign. The purpose of this collaboration was to focus upon voter registration, voter education and voter participation for all student-athletes, coaches and staff for the general election, state elections and local elections. Additionally, Election Day was designated as a mandatory day off from required athletic activities to promote student-athlete participation in the general election. In total, 462, or 87 percent of student-athletes registered to vote.

Shippensburg University’s 2021 Rankings include:

  • US News & World Report (Regional Universities North)
    • #25 Top Public Schools
    • Best Value Schools
    • Best Online MBA Programs
    • Best College for Veterans
    • Best Online MBA Programs for Veterans
  • Top Guard Friendly School by The Pennsylvania National Guard Associations (PNGAS)
  • Voter Friendly School by Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project and Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA)
    • One of only 231 schools nationwide
  • Study.com Nationally Top-Ranked Schools (Grove College)
    • #2 Supply Chain Management
    • #5 Marketing
    • #23 Finance
    • #41 Business
  • Best Business Schools by The Princeton Review (Grove College)

Prior Rankings Include:

  • First-gen Forward Institution by the Center for First-generation Student Success
  • College of Distinction for Business, Education and Engineering.
  • College of Distinction for Career Development, Equity and Inclusion, and Military Support
  • Top Master’s in Science Education program by Intelligent.com
  • Leading Financial Planning School, by Financial Planning