UW-Madison moves up in latest rankings

The University of Wisconsin–Madison ranked seventh among public institutions in the 2009 edition of America’s Best Colleges, produced by U.S. News and World Report.

The issue will be on newsstands today (Aug. 22).

UW-Madison also tied for 35th among 262 national doctoral universities. Last year, the university ranked eighth among public universities and 38th out of 258 doctoral institutions.

The Wisconsin School of Business tied for 13th, with specialty rankings for insurance/risk management (third) and real estate (second).

The College of Engineering also was ranked 13th overall, and chemical engineering was ranked third. The rankings are based solely on the judgments of deans and senior faculty who respond to an invitation to nominate peer institutions on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished).

The category “programs to look for” features administrator-nominated student-service programs. UW–Madison was mentioned most often for its undergraduate research/creative projects, learning communities and study abroad.

U.S. News and World Report uses several criteria to determine rankings, including student selectivity, faculty resources, financial resources, graduation and retention rates, graduation rate performance and alumni giving. Peer assessment also is a factor, reporting how institutions are regarded by top administrators at peer institutions. An institution’s score is the average score of all the respondents who ranked it. UW–Madison tied for 20th overall and fifth among public institutions; this was the only category in which UW–Madison’s ranking is better than its overall ranking.