Ohio State climbs to 16 nationally among America’s public universities in U.S. News rankings
U.S. News & World Report is again naming The Ohio State University as the state’s best public university, and one of the nation’s top public institutions. The university has moved up two spots to 16 among the top 50 public national universities in the magazine’s special edition on America’s Best Colleges. The publication has considered Ohio State the best public university in Ohio for the past nine years.
Ohio State was cited as a university “much more determined than others to provide freshmen and all undergrads with the best possible experience, recognizing that certain enriched offerings are linked to student success.”
The publication names Ohio State’s First Year Experience, Learning Communities and Undergraduate Research initiatives as outstanding examples of programs that lead to student success.
“This latest recognition is particularly significant because it recognizes excellence in programs that focus on student success, such as our First Year Experience and Learning Communities,” said Interim President Joseph A. Alutto. “Our efforts to create the nation’s most engaging campus experience are reaping rewards. Clearly, Ohio State has been – and is – on an upward trajectory.”
To reach its conclusions, the publication compares institutions in categories that include graduation and retention rates, assessment by peers and guidance counselors, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving.
This year, U.S. News made some significant changes to the ranking methodology – increasing the weight of outcome measures that signal how well a school educates and graduates its students, and reducing the weight of factors that measure the characteristics of the incoming class.
Ohio State’s performance in the predicted versus actual 2012 graduation rate is one of the best in the nation. The measure, which uses characteristics of the incoming class to predict a six-year graduation rate, gives credit to schools that have a higher-than-expected rate. Ohio State’s 2012 six-year graduation rate of 82 percent exceeded the predicted rate of 71 percent.
Ohio State is tied at 16 (with University of Texas and University of Washington), and is the only public university in Ohio included in the top 30. Among all universities, public and private, Ohio State is ranked 52 (the majority of the top 50 universities on that list are private).
The magazine also provides annual rankings for undergraduate business and engineering programs. Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business was rated 18 in the nation, and its logistics program is ranked in the top five nationally. The College of Engineering was ranked 26 among colleges whose highest degree is a Ph.D.
The U.S. News rankings of undergraduate programs cover only a small portion of the programs offered at Ohio State. In addition to overall institutional rankings, the magazine publishes an annual guide to graduate schools each spring, which ranks a number of Ohio State programs, as well as rankings of hospitals, which give high marks to the Wexner Medical Center.
About The Ohio State University
Ohio State is a dynamic community of diverse resources, where opportunity thrives and where individuals transform themselves and the world. Founded in 1870, The Ohio State University is a world-class public research university and the leading comprehensive teaching and research institution in the state of Ohio. With more than 63,000 students (including 57,000 in Columbus), the Wexner Medical Center, 14 colleges, 80 centers and 175 majors, the university offers its students tremendous breadth and depth of opportunity in the liberal arts, the sciences and the professions.
