August 22, 2003 — The University of Utah ranks 117th out the more than 1,400 colleges and universities surveyed for the 2004 edition of the “America’s Best Colleges” guidebook from U.S. News & World Report. The magazine ranks schools annually based on a complicated system of peer assessments and statistical data.

The U was also highly ranked for its undergraduate engineering program, which ranked 67th best in the country. Utah’s College of Engineering was among the first ever established west of the Mississippi and is nationally know for its excellence in computer science and bioengineering, among other programs. Some of the companies founded by graduates and faculty of the College of Engineering include: TRW, Evans and Sutherland, Silicon Graphics, Netscape, WordPerfect, Sarcos, Opto 22, Novell, Atari, Adobe Systems, Little America, and Pixar, to name only a few.

The U is also ranked among the nation’s best for Service Learning. U.S. News & World Report describes this as programs placing emphasis on volunteering in the community as an instructional strategy-and a requirement of a student’s coursework. The service relates to what happens in class and vice versa.