Best Practices for Using Badges

Using Our U.S. News & World Report Badges 

We are excited to share that Jacksonville State University has been recognized in the U.S. News & World Report 2025 Best Colleges Rankings. To celebrate, we’ve invested in official U.S. News Best Colleges badges for use across our communications. These badges are a powerful way to showcase our achievements, and we encourage you to use them in both print and digital materials, including your email signature.  

To ensure we use these badges effectively and in line with licensing guidelines, please review the following best practices for badge usage: 

Best Practices for Badge Use: 

1. File Formats 
   • For digital use, please use the PNG file format. 
   • For print use, JPG files are recommended for the best quality. 
2. Legibility and Size Requirements 
   • Badges must remain clearly legible in all uses. 
   • For print materials, badges should be no smaller than 1.125 inches in width. 
   • For non-mobile digital uses, they must be at least 70 pixels wide. 
3. Unaltered Use 
   • Please do not alter or modify the badges in any way. This includes changes to color, shape, or content. 
   • Transparent backgrounds are acceptable, but the badge itself should not be changed. 
4. Approved Messaging 
   • You are welcome to use U.S. News-approved phrases such as, “Named a Best College 2025 by U.S. News & World Report,” when describing our awards. 
   • If a category has a tie, any claim of being "#1" or "highest-ranked" must include a clear note about the tie. 
5. Vetting Creative Materials 
   • All creative materials (ads, web content, etc.) that use the badge must be submitted to U.S. News for approval. You can send these to our badge-licensing specialist, Gaiety Caballero, at gcaballero@brandconnex.com  
6. Use with Integrity 
   • Ensure that badges are not used in a way that could mislead or confuse viewers, or that would reflect poorly on U.S. News & World Report. 
   • Badges cannot be used to imply an endorsement of any service, product, or initiative. 
7. Badges on Web Pages 
   • We recommend placing badges on appropriate university web pages and linking them to Jax State’s profile page on the U.S. News website for added credibility. 

Accessing the Badges: 

These badges are a great asset in promoting our university’s achievements, and we encourage you to incorporate them into your communications. If you have any questions or need further guidance on how to best use the badges, please contact Jax State’s Director of Marketing and Licensing Mary Smith at msmith@jsu.edu. 

 Right-click to save the image(s).