Colorado State University Graduate Programs Ranked among Nation’s Best by U.S. News and World Report

Colorado State University’s graduate programs in veterinary medicine and occupational therapy were ranked among the nation’s top educational programs of their kind in today’s U.S. News and World Report’s Best Graduate Schools. The two programs were represented in the health disciplines rankings by the magazine.

The professional doctoral veterinary medicine program secured the third slot. The program has consistently ranked among the top three veterinary programs in the nation for almost a dozen years, since the year 2000 ranking. The professional occupational therapy program was ranked sixth in nation, climbing from the eighth spot in September of 2011, the most recent ranking of graduate programs.

In addition to the strong showing in health disciplines, many of Colorado State University’s science and engineering programs also were recognized, with nearly all departments in the College of Natural Sciences ranked in the top 100. Within the top 50, the statistics graduate program ranked 40th and chemistry graduate program ranking 45th. College of Engineering graduate programs secured five rankings in the top 70 including chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical and environmental engineering.

CSU is a top research university in the nation. Despite a down economy, Colorado State University grew its annual research spending nearly 10 percent to $330.8 million in Fiscal Year 2011-12 – the fourth year in a row that expenditures topped $300 million and a record high for CSU, which already boasts one of the most productive research faculties in the country. Over the past six years, research spending at Colorado State has increased 24 percent, during a time of significant cuts in federal research funding nationwide. The term “research expenditures” reflects the amount of government and private sector funded research the university conducts.

According to the 2012 U.S. News and World Report "America’s Best Colleges" edition released earlier this year, Colorado State University is one of the top 20 that makes writing a priority as a critical element of student success.

Also ranked in today’s graduate school recognition were CSU’s fine arts, sociology, social work and part-time MBA programs.

Today’s U.S. News and World Report ranking follows several recent accolades for the university including:

• The Colorado State University College of Business offers one of the best MBA programs in the nation, according to an October 2011 announcement by The Princeton Review, a New York-based education services company. Colorado State’s MBA program also was ranked No. 4 in The Princeton Review’s Top 10 “Most Family Friendly” category.

• Colorado State University is among the top military friendly schools in the nation, according to G.I. Jobs magazine. The 2012 Military Friendly Schools list honors the top 20 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America’s military service members and veterans as students.

• The College of Business at Colorado State has been recognized for its outstanding leadership in integrating social, environmental and ethical issues into its Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise MBA program. The Aspen Institute’s 2011-2012 edition of “Beyond Grey Pinstripes,” an independent, biennial survey and global ranking of business schools, ranked the GSSE program at CSU number 27 on its list of the Top 100 MBA Programs in the world.

• Colorado State University is in the top four nationally for solar power at major public research universities, according to a new report released in October 2011 by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, known as AASHE.

• In 2010 and 2011, the “Education” issue of Popular Science released in September listed the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory in the Colorado State College of Engineering as one of the 25 Most Awesome College Labs.

• When it filed in September 2011, Colorado State University had achieved the highest score among 129 reporting universities participating in a national survey of higher education institutions dedicated to sustainability measures – the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Reporting System known as STARS.

• In June 2011, Wired magazine singled out the Colorado State University Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory in its listing of Fort Collins as one of “The Emerging Epicenters” for innovation and high-tech job growth in green technology.

• Colorado State ranked among the best schools in the nation in Forbes’ annual ranking of the Top Colleges for 2011, which was released in August. Colorado State ranked 61st among public universities and also made the Forbes Top 100 Best Buy Colleges list, ranking 45th among all private and public universities.

• Colorado State was named as one of the country’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the school in the new 2012 edition of its annual college guide, “The Best 376 Colleges,” which was on newsstands in August.

• The Fiske Guide to Colleges – also released in August – features Colorado State in the 2012 edition. The Fiske Guide features more than 300 of the country’s best and most interesting colleges and universities.

• Colorado State also ranked highly in the summer of 2011 in multiple international rankings issued by such institutions as the QS World University Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

• In June, Diverse Issues in Higher Education listed CSU among the Top 100 Producers of Minority Degrees for 2011. The rankings include institutions that confer the most degrees to minority students.

• In April 2011, Princeton Review named CSU as one of the nation’s top colleges with a strong commitment to sustainability initiatives and activities because of its many green initiatives including a new minor in sustainability, a 5.3-megawatt solar plant and biomass boiler.

• In March 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranked CSU’s veterinary medicine professional doctorate program in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in the top three among programs of its kind throughout the United States. The graduate program in the Department of Occupational Therapy in the College of Applied Human Sciences – a “Program of Excellence” designated by the state of Colorado – ranked 8th in the nation.

• CSU was ranked among the 2011 “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” by Kiplinger’s in January, 2011.

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