Colorado State University Ranks Among Top Colleges in U.S. News and World Report’s 2009 ‘America’s Best Colleges’

U.S. News and World Report ranked Colorado State University in the top tier, among the best universities in the nation, in the 2009 "America’s Best Colleges" edition released today.

U.S. News and World Report listed Colorado State in the top tier of public and private doctoral universities, ranking the university 63rd among public universities and 125th overall. For a complete list of rankings and methodologies, visit the Web at www.usnews.com.

"Colorado State University is heading in the right direction with record levels of enrollment, private giving and research support. This ranking –  just one of many measures of success – is affirmative evidence of that," President Larry Edward Penley said. "The focus of Colorado State’s faculty and students remains set on addressing the great global challenges facing our world, such as clean energy technology, mitigation of infectious diseases and innovative cancer treatments. This vision provides our students a strong, global foundation of knowledge they will need to be successful members of tomorrow’s workforce."

Under the "Programs to Look For" section – a list of schools with outstanding examples of academic programs that are commonly linked to student success – Colorado State University is listed under the "Writing in the Disciplines" category. This category lists universities that make writing a priority at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum and encourage students to produce and refine various forms of writing for a range of audiences in different disciplines.

Other Colorado universities ranked in the top tier include the Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Denver.

Also ranked individually in the 2009 edition was Colorado State’s undergraduate program in the College of Engineering.

The College of Engineering ranked 35th among all public universities and 61st overall. The college boasts three University Distinguished Professors and four members of the National Academy of Engineering. The college’s Department of Atmospheric Science ranked second in the most productive atmospheric sciences and meteorology programs in the nation in the 2006-2007 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, produced by Academic Analytics with support from State University of New York-Stony Brook.

The magazine rankings follow a record-breaking year for research support and recognition at Colorado State. Among the highlights:

– Colorado State University’s pioneering work in renewable energy and its excellence in infectious disease and biomedical research helped push research expenditures close to $300 million in fiscal year 2007 – among the highest levels of federal funding for universities nationwide. The university’s annual research expenditures are expected to top $300 million this fiscal year.

– Colorado State receives one of the highest levels of federal research funding of any university without a medical school in the country.

– In July 2008, the university unveiled plans for the state’s first School of Global Environmental Sustainability to streamline the university’s internationally recognized environmental research and to prepare students for the growing "green" workforce.

– In March 2008, the university announced the Clean Energy Supercluster, a groundbreaking method for transferring its clean and renewable energy research into the commercial marketplace. Some 100 professors across the university are working on market-driven solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems.

– Colorado State University had a record year for fundraising this year, securing the second-highest total support in the university’s history. CSU raised $79.5 million, a 51 percent increase over the previous year.

– In 2008, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine ranked Colorado State in the top 100 in the nation for quality education and affordability in its annual 100 Best Values in Public Colleges rankings.

– U.S. News and World Report ranked the veterinary medicine program at Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences second in the nation among America’s best graduate schools in its most current ranking in 2007.

– Colorado State’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences leads all other schools of its kind in external research funding.

– CSU’s Department of Occupational Therapy was ranked 8th in the nation this year by U.S. News and World Report "America’s Best Graduate Schools" rankings. The department, part of the College of Applied Human Sciences, is recognized by the university as one of 12 Programs of Research and Scholarly Excellence and has been designated a Program of Excellence by the state of Colorado. It has been ranked in the top 10 Occupational Therapy programs by the U.S. News and World Report survey for multiple years.

– Colorado State University’s graduate program in physics jumped 13 places to No. 68 in U.S. News and World Report’s 2008 edition of "America’s Best Graduate Schools," which was released March 28. CSU’s Department of Physics is part of the College of Natural Sciences.

– Another College of Natural Sciences graduate program included in the 2008 rankings was mathematics, ranked No. 90. The program was tied with mathematics graduate programs at nine other universities, including Auburn University, the University of Connecticut and the University of South Carolina.

– In 2008, BusinessWeek magazine ranked Colorado State University’s College of Business as one of the top undergraduate business programs in the country. Colorado State ranked No. 73 – 32nd among all public schools listed in the 2008 Business Week rankings.

– Colorado State ranks 12th in the nation among large colleges and universities in the number of alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers, according to 2008 rankings by the Peace Corps. Fifty-seven Colorado State alumni volunteered for the Peace Corps. Since the Peace Corps’ inception in 1961, 1,466 Colorado State alumni have volunteered. This year the Peace Corp will be meeting in Fort Collins for a reunion in celebration of the important role Colorado State University played in the development of the organization.

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