With inclusion in the prestigious Association of American Universitiesas a goal, Florida State University continues asteady and dramatic march to be counted among the nation’s elite universities and colleges with a Top 20 ranking in U.S. News & World Reports “Best Colleges 2022 –2023" guidebook for public universities.
FSU remains locked in a tie at 19 with three other schools,the University of Maryland, the University of Washington, and Rutgers; all AAU members, a collection of 63 research schoolsknown for scholarship and innovation.
But FSU appears to be making movesto break the logjam.
More top college rankings:
In the latest rankings released Monday, the Seminoles showed significant improvement in scores forfaculty resources, graduation and freshmen retention rates, over-all value, and peer recognition.
The University of California, Berkelyled the rankings, followed by UCLA, the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, and the University of Florida at number five.
FSU is rated fourth in the nation forfaculty, which includes pay, class size, and student to faculty ratio, up two spots from a year ago.
The Seminoles posted the nation’s 18th best freshmen retention rates, compared to last year’s ranking of 24.
And FSU is rated as the 8th Best Value College in the nation, the highest rank among the 10 state universities.
FSU President Richard McCullough said the rankings are a reflection of the “total excellence across the university."
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“We’re competing at the highest levels with the best universities in the world and our goal is to continue to rise to the Top 15 and beyond,” McCullough said in a statement.
U.S. News said it bases the rankings on factors that indicate academic quality. The annual survey is considered a leading benchmark of academic standing by colleges and universities.
FSU has made a steady and dramatic rise since a ranking of 43 in the 2016 guidebook – moving to 26 in 2018 and cracking the Top 20 in 2019.
The school, along with the University of Florida, had lobbied the Legislature for increased funding to improve their national reputation.
Lawmakers crafted a performance-based Florida Preeminence Programin 2013 to enable the state’s bigger universities to increase their national stature.
The University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida have since been added to the program.
The Preemince Program funnels anadditional $62 million a year to FSU with some of the money diverted to improve graduation and retention rates.
A peer assessment surveyseems to be the only subjective measure in the rankings. This year FSU posted its highest score ever, 3.3,on a scale of 1 to5 (marginal to distinguished).
“Our peers are realizing Florida State University is a place seriously on the move, wanting to move toward AAU membership (membership is by invitation only), wanting to double our research expenditures, and striving for excellence and high levels of achievement,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Jim Clark in a prepared statement.
This year’s rankings also recognized FSU as the Number 8 Best Value College in America among public universities and the highest ranked among Florida’s 10 schools.
Among the nation’s public universities, U.S. News ranked FSU at No.23 for graduate debt, a measurement of the percentage of students who took out federal loans and the amount owed.
The two-year average at FSU dropped $912 and the percentage of graduates with debt fell from 43% to 38%.
“People talk about affordability and access in higher education all the time, but we actually deliver,” said McCullough. “Our tuition is among the lowest in the nation, and we work really hard at the individual student level to provide scholarships rather than have students take loans.”
Florida State University System and U.S. News & World Report 2022 –2023 Best Colleges rankings
- 5. University of Florida
- 19. Florida State University
- 42. University of South Florida
- 64. University of Central Florida
- 72. Florida International University
- 103. Florida A&M University
- 132, Florida Atlantic University
- 132 University of North Florida
- 169 -227 Florida Gulf Coast University
- NR Florida Polytechnical University
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on him Twitter: @CallTallahassee
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