U.S. News cites two OSU programs that lead to student success

COLUMBUS – Innovative programs that make the transition to college easier at Ohio State are named among the nation’s best, according to a U.S. News and World Report special edition on America’s Best Colleges.

Overall, the magazine continues to rank Ohio State among the nation’s top 25 public institutions. Ohio State is tied at 24, (with Texas A&M University) and is the only public university in Ohio included in the top 25. Miami University is in a two-way tie for 26 and Ohio University is in a five-way tie at 45. The magazine also provides annual rankings for undergraduate business and engineering programs. Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business was rated 14th best in the nation, up from 16th, and its College of Engineering 27th among colleges whose highest degree is a Ph.D.

The publication lists two Ohio State initiatives, First Year Experience and Living-Learning Programs, as stellar examples of programs that lead to student success. OSU’s First Year Experience (FYE) programs help students navigate the complexities of college life, academically and socially. The magazine rated Ohio State’s FYE program as seventh in the nation.

“These are substantial initiatives that help our students become successful college students,” says Mabel Freeman, assistant vice president for undergraduate admissions and First Year Experience. “New students need more than a two-day orientation to make an effective transition into college and beyond their first year. We provide ongoing networks of resources and programs to help them manage their time, their finances and their new independence, while they pursue the academic opportunities that Ohio State offers. We believe it is possible for Ohio State to be both a successful research university and a university that focuses on enhancing and personalizing the student experience, and we appreciate this recognition.”

Living-Learning Programs are residence hall programs that group students with common interests—such as academic interest, cultural background, or lifestyle preferences—together in a residence hall. In a new category of learning communities, the magazine’s rates Ohio State’s Living- Learning Programs as 18th in the nation.

“Living-Learning Programs help students, especially freshmen, get acclimated to college life by helping them connect and interact with other members of the Ohio State community,” says Ron Kochendoerfer, director of Residence Education. “We have 43 Living-Learning programs in the residence halls. If you want to live with other students studying engineering or business, we offer that. If you want to live with students who are part of the Honors or Scholars programs, or with students who are still deciding what to major in, we have that, too. We partner with the academic side of the university to match the needs and aspirations of students with what the colleges want as outcomes, and that personalization is what sets us apart.”

Among all national universities, public and private, whose highest degree is a Ph.D., Ohio State ranks in the second tier.

To reach its conclusions, institutions are compared in categories that include academic reputation, freshmen retention, faculty resources, graduation rates, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

The guide’s analysis of Ohio State, based on 2001 statistics, noted improvement in several categories over the previous year. Freshmen retention increased to 84 percent from 82 percent; the average ACT score of incoming freshmen increased to 25.2 from 24.9, and the number of incoming freshmen in the top 10% of their high school class increased to 33 from 32 percent.

The university’s focus on improving academic quality will be seen in the incoming freshman class that begins classes on Sept. 25.
Ohio State is preparing to welcome one of its best-prepared freshman class ever. The class of 2006 ranks higher than previous freshman classes in terms of high school performance, test scores and other indicators of academic quality.

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 also annually ranks undergraduate programs in business and engineering. In addition, the magazine publishes an annual guide to graduate schools each spring, which ranks a number of Ohio State programs.