U.S. News ranks Ohio State top public in Ohio

COLUMBUS – U.S. News and World Report is again naming The Ohio State University as the state’s best public university, and one of the nation’s best public institutions. The university has moved up two spots to be tied for 22nd among the top 50 public national universities in the magazine’s special edition on America’s Best Colleges.

The only other Ohio university included in the prestigious listing of top public universities is Miami University, in a two-way tie for 25.

This year, the magazine ranked the nation’s top 125 public and private schools, versus the top 50 as it had in past years. In that listing Ohio State is rated 60. The top 20 schools in the nation are all private, including Case Western Reserve University, which, in a two-way tie for 37 is the only other Ohio institution to be ranked higher than Ohio State.

“Our movement reflects the work of our faculty and staff in providing a quality education to our students,” said President Karen A. Holbrook. “One of the key priorities of the Academic Plan is to improve the learning environment for our students, and that’s where we are putting our resources. It’s great to see that these efforts are paying off.”

The analysis, which is based on 2002 statistics, notes improvement in several categories. Most notably, the university’s six-year graduation rate increased to 59 percent from 56 percent, while the freshman retention rate continues to improve to 85.5 percent, up from 84 percent. Freshman retention was below 80 percent in 1997.

The continued improvement in freshman retention is due in large part to Ohio State’s innovative First Year Experience (FYE) program, which U.S. News lists as an outstanding example of a program that leads to student success. The continued improvement in freshman retention is due in large part to the university’s commitment to the academic and campus experiences of undergraduate students and especially first-year students.

Ohio State’s First-Year Experience (FYE) program, an initiative designed to improve first-year success, is listed by U.S. News as an outstanding example of academic programs that lead to student success. While the magazine ranked the program 7th last year, this year it chose to list the best programs in alphabetical order. Ohio State’s FYE program is the only one cited in Ohio.

“We believe that communications and programs directed toward facilitating a first year student’s entrance into the university community are important in order to help students be successful academically and socially both for the first year and beyond,” said Mabel Freeman, assistant vice president for undergraduate admissions and First Year Experience. “FYE efforts help personalize Ohio State and ease a student’s transition from high school into a major research university. The goal of our program is to link students with the college resources and university support services they’ll need while constantly reminding them that we admitted them into the university with the expectation that they will graduate with an Ohio State degree.”

In addition to the overall institutional rankings, the magazine also annually ranks a small number of undergraduate programs in business and engineering. Among both private and public universities, Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business was rated 17th best in the nation. Among public universities, the program is rated 10th. Ohio State’s specialty program in Supply Chain Management/Logistics ranked 3rd.

Among private and public colleges whose highest degree is a Ph.D., Ohio State’s College of Engineering is rated 25th overall and 15th among publics in the category.

The rankings are based on peer assessment (25 percent of the score); retention (20 percent); faculty resources (20 percent); student selectivity (15 percent); financial resources (10 percent); graduate rate performance (5 percent); and alumni giving rate (5 percent).
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