Magazine rankings put UA 45th among public universities

The University of Arizona’s business school placed near the top of a news magazine’s national rankings.

The UA’s Eller College of Management tied for 12th among undergraduate public business programs in U.S. News & World Report’s annual America’s Best Colleges issue. The Eller school’s management information systems program placed fourth.

In overall rankings of the nation’s public and private institutions, UA ranked 96th in the area of undergraduate programs – a tie with nine other schools that included Northeastern and Howard universities.

The U.S. News rankings were published on its Web site Friday and will be available in its print publication Aug. 27.

Among public schools, UA placed 45th – in a tie with seven other institutions, including the University of California, Riverside and the University of Tennessee.

Each year, millions of students and parents turn to the publication’s rankings, which are based on a school’s student selectivity, student retention, graduation rate, the amount of funds available to faculty and universitywide as well as how much alumni donate.

Top administrators also fill out surveys on how well institutions are doing, including their own.

U.S. News, which has published its rankings for more than 20 years, has received criticism in recent years.

Nationally, more than 60 college and university presidents have signed the “Beyond Ranking” letter.

Education Conservancy director Lloyd Thacker in Oregon is leading the charge.

The letter reads: “We believe these rankings are misleading and do not serve well the interests of prospective students in finding a college or university that is well-suited to their education beyond high school.”

Officials at San Francisco State University, Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Washington (Md.) College are among those to have signed.

As part of the commitment, college officials refuse to promote the rankings or fill out the survey U.S. News send to more than 1,900 colleges and universities.

UA officials have said the ranking system is only one of a number of measures that determine the success of UA.

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ON THE WEB
Rankings are available on the U.S. News & World Report Web site, www.usnews.com.

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U.S. News & World Report’s overall Top 10

1. Princeton University

2. Harvard University

3. Yale University

4. Stanford University

5. California Institute of Technology

6. University of Pennsylvania

7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

8. Duke University

9. Columbia University

10. University of Chicago

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SOME OF THE OTHER RANKINGS

• Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business placed 25, in a tie with the University of Washington’s business school.

• Among engineering schools offering a doctorate degree, ASU ranked 37th, in a tie with Iowa State and Case Western Reserve universities. UA placed 48th in a four-way tie.

• In the area of best public undergraduate engineering program, Northern Arizona University placed 38th, in a nine-way tie with schools that include Manhattan College and the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

• At 3,136 students, ASU had one of the largest number of enrolled transfer students during the fall of 2006, placing in the top 20.

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