September 13, 2011

CU campuses, programs hold high spots in national rankings

DENVER— The campuses and undergraduate programs of the University of Colorado retained their noteworthy rankings among national and regional institutions in the latest edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges.

The 2012 report, released today, shows the University of Colorado Boulder ranked at No. 42 among top Public National Universities; the University of Colorado Denver’s downtown campus ranked 100th on the same list. CU-Boulder (No. 94) and CU Denver (No. 181) also remained among the top overall National Universities, which also includes private and for-profit institutions.

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs ranked 10th among Public Regional Universities of the West, and 39th overall among Regional Universities of the West.

Other highlights:

  • UCCS’ undergraduate engineering program ranked 11th among public engineering schools whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s, and 27th among public, private and for-profit institutions.
  • CU-Boulder’s undergraduate engineering program came in at 19th among public engineering schools whose highest degree is a doctorate, and 34th overall. Within engineering, kudos went to aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical (No. 14) and environmental/environmental health (No. 18).
  • CU-Boulder’s undergraduate business program came in at 36th overall. Within business, its entrepreneurship program is 19th.

U.S. News & World Report rankings are based on its measures of academic peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. “National Universities” are the 280 U.S. institutions (172 public, 101 private and seven for profit) that offer a wide range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and doctoral degrees; some emphasize research.

The 2012 edition Best Colleges book is available online and will be on newsstands Sept. 20.
The University of Colorado is a premier public research university with four campuses: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Some 60,000 students are pursuing academic degrees at CU. Academic prestige is marked by the university’s four Nobel laureates, seven MacArthur “genius” Fellows, 18 alumni astronauts and 19 Rhodes Scholars. For more information about the entire CU system, and to access campus resources, go to www.cu.edu.