Facts:

U.S. News & World Report ranked the University of Delaware 26th among the nation's top public universities in its annual "America's Best Colleges" issue, published Sept. 11, 2000. UD shares the 26th rank with the Colorado School of Mines, Indiana University-Bloomington, Miami University of Ohio, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Virginia Tech.

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UD's graduate programs in chemical engineering and physical therapy also drew top standings from U.S. News & World Report's 2002 rankings of America's best graduate schools. UD programs ranked this year included chemical engineering (ranked eighth) and physical therapy (tied for ninth).

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U.S. News & World Report ranks the city management/urban policy graduate program seventh in the nation in its 2002 edition of Best Graduate Schools. The School of Education is ranked 50th overall, tied with the College of William and Mary.

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The annual budget of the College of Marine Studies has grown from less than $1 million in 1970 to more than $13 million today, with 70 percent of those funds coming from highly competitive research grants.

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An annual UD survey of student computer use at the University reports that, as of fall 1999, 93 percent of the student body owns computers, 99 percent uses computers for papers and reports, 98 percent uses e-mail and 98 percent browses the web.