U.S. News and World Report Ranks Colorado State University among Nation’s Best

Colorado State University is again ranked as a top tier university among the nation’s best in U.S. News and World Report’s annual America’s Best Colleges rankings. The rankings, released today, place CSU as 67th among public universities nationwide.

The magazine also listed the university as an A-plus school for students who want to be part of a university with a broad, engaged student body.

“Both our national ranking and being named an A-Plus Schools for B Students are indications of the world-class quality of a CSU education and of our continued commitment to make that education available to all students with strong potential to contribute and succeed here,” CSU President Tony Frank said.

“Colorado State several years ago moved away from strict reliance on GPA and test scores as a basis for admission, and while these things still matter, the university also considers the complete student –diverse experiences and achievements, leadership qualities and other factors that are strong predictors of student success,” Frank said. “By doing so, CSU has admitted some of the most academically qualified classes in school history and made real improvements in retention and graduation rates.”

U.S. News also noted in its summary that CSU is “considered one of the leading research universities, and faculty and students work together to explore fields such as atmospheric science, infectious disease, clean energy technologies and environmental science.”

“Rankings such as these are a good, third-party barometer of how we are doing in the eyes of others. We will always continue to focus on our missions of providing a top-flight education to our students, conducting groundbreaking research and providing service to people throughout Colorado,” Frank said. “Our job is to make Colorado State University the best public research university out there.”

According to U.S. News and World Report, it assesses more than 1,500 of the country’s four-year colleges and universities for the rankings, including 281 considered for the top national rankings. A complete list of rankings and methodologies is available at www.usnews.com.

Colorado State is routinely highlighted in national rankings recognizing top universities and programs:
– In August, Colorado State University was named one of the best higher-education values in Forbes’ list of America’s Top 650 Colleges and was listed in the 2013 Fiske Guide to Colleges, standing out among U.S. universities for academic quality.

– 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 377 Colleges, in August 2012.

– In March, 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 in 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 6th nationally.

– Colorado State ranks 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, or 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.”

– In September 2011, Colorado State 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.

– 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.

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