Sept. 12, 2012—In the latest issue of U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” rankings of undergraduate programs, the University of Utah’s College of Engineering continues its steady climb, moving up two spots to number 64 in the nation. Earlier this spring when U.S. News ranks graduate programs, the College of Engineering’s graduate program was ranked even higher at number 54 in the nation.
Efforts by the College of Engineering to improve and grow its programs are certainly being recognized. It has been leading a statewide effort to increase engineering and computer science degrees to support growth in the state, regional and national economies. In May 2012, the College awarded a total of 721 degrees, a record high. Additionally, the faculty has substantially increased engineering research funding over the past decade.
“For more than a decade, Utah’s investments from the Engineering Initiative and the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR) have helped to accelerate our rate of growth in students, faculty size, research expenditures and degree output,” says College of Engineering Dean Richard Brown. “The University of Utah is the pipeline for engineering and computer science graduates in a state that has earned the most top 10 rankings of any state in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s new economic report. To help sustain Utah’s tech-driven economy, the College must continue to grow in size, quality and reputation to a level that is consistent with our national peers.”
Earlier this year, the David Eccles School of Business joined the U.S. News & World Report list of the top 10 most-popular business schools in the nation. Now, the publication has ranked the undergraduate program at 72, and because of the method used to calculate the rankings, it tied with 14 other schools.
U.S. News continues to rank the University of Utah’s undergraduate programs in the top tier of all national universities at 125 and at number 60 among all public universities. The publication normally ranks the U’s graduate programs much more favorably than it does its undergraduate offerings, in large part to what U.S. News calls “student selectivity” or offering admission to many deserving freshman who are not in the top ten percent of their high school classes. As a result, the U was also noted on the list of “A-plus Schools for B-Students”, or as the publication notes “where spirit and hard work could make all the difference in admissions offices.”
The 2012 edition of the “Best Colleges” guidebook is available online and will be on newsstands September 18. For a complete listing of the U.S. News & World Report rankings of America’s Best Colleges, visit http://www.usnews.com.