U.S. News Ranks UW-Madison Eighth Among Public Universities

UW–Madison is ranked eighth in the nation among national public universities in the 11th annual “America’s Best Colleges” issue of U.S. News & World Report.

UW–Madison is the second-highest Big Ten school in the ranking behind the University of Michigan, which tied with UC-Berkeley for second with the University of Virginia taking first. This is the first time U.S. News has ranked public universities separately. Criteria used included academic reputation, retention of students, admissions selectivity, faculty resources and financial resources. The “Best Colleges” issue will arrive on newsstands Monday, Aug. 25.

In the magazine’s overall ranking of 228 public and private universities, UW–Madison finished 38th, compared to 41st last year.

U.S. News also rated universities by ratio of quality to price for an out-of-state student, with each school’s overall score in the survey divided by its average cost. UW–Madison ranked 44th, one of two Big Ten schools along with Northwestern to place in the nation’s top 50 “best values.”

“Based on the criterion of academic reputation alone, UW–Madison continues to rank third nationally among public institutions in the U.S. News survey,” says John Torphy, vice chancellor for administration at UW–Madison.

“Our overall rank of 38th is the result of paying our outstanding faculty salaries that are well below peer institutions, a low rate of giving by undergraduate alumni, and student selectivity factors,” he said.

Torphy noted that he consistently recommends that any and all magazine rankings be taken with large grains of salt. “Students and their parents should make decisions based on the student’s interests and abilities, the programs offered and the academic environment of the institution,” he said.