Vol. 20, No. 1

Sept. 7, 2000

U.S. News: UD 26th among public universities

The University of Delaware ranks 26th among the nation's top public universities in U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Colleges 2001," released Sept. 1. UD shares the rank of 26th with the Colorado School of Mines, Indiana University/ Bloomington, Miami University of Ohio, the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Virginia Tech. The University of California at Berkeley was ranked first among the nation's public universities. UD's Department of Chemical Engineering was ranked fourth in the nation among the best undergraduate engineering departments with Ph.D. programs, sharing that rank with the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In its ranking of engineering schools offering the Ph.D., UD was ranked 50th (up from 52nd last year), tying with the Colorado School of Mines, Rutgers University at New Brunswick, the University of California at Irvine, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. UD was ranked 73rd among best business programs, sharing that rank with the City University of New York/Baruch College, DePaul University, Northeastern University, Ohio University, Rutgers/ Newark, San Diego State University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Washington State University. Princeton University was ranked the top national university, and UD appeared in the second tier of schools in this grouping, which includes private schools. In fact, of the top 25 schools in this grouping, only five are public. UD also is mentioned in articles accompanying the rankings. An article on alcohol use on college campuses mentions Delaware's sanctions against underage possession that range from mandatory counseling to the three-strikes-and-you're-out policy, as well as the parental notification policy. Another article on student discipline cites UD's parental notification policy and quotes Dean of Students Tim Brooks saying that parents are "100 percent behind it." "The University of Delaware's consistent ranking by U.S. News among the top public universities over the last few years demonstrates an increased awareness of our many strengths," University President David P. Roselle said. "I was particularly pleased to see the recognition for our engineering and business programs this year. "At the same time, I think a truer assessment of UD's stature can be found by looking at our success in attracting talented students; the honors, recognition and research funding awarded to our faculty members; and the success our students experience upon graduation." For its rankings, U.S. News categorizes colleges by mission and region, gathers data on 16 indicators–such as academic reputation, retention, faculty resources and student selectivity–and then ranks colleges against their peers in each category, based on a composite, weighted score. Last year, UD was ranked 22nd among public universities. "These small differences in rankings from year to year should not be considered significant," Roselle said. Complete rankings are available on the magazine's web site at [www.usnews.com].