UGA climbed two spots this year in the recently released U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 edition of America’s Best Colleges, ranking 21st among the nation’s top public universities. The university also tied for 63rd in the category for best private and public universities.
Besides ranking top universities, the U.S. News & World Report also highlights the various undergraduate business and engineering programs offered nationwide. UGA’s Terry College of Business ranked well again this year, particularly for insurance and risk management, placing second among top public and private universities. The college ranked fourth in the real estate category and tied for 31st for overall programs.
In 2012, the U.S. News & World Report surveyed 1,391 ranked colleges and universities. To decide its top national universities, it measures an institution’s undergraduate academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance (the difference between actual and predicted graduation rates) and alumni giving.
Helping UGA in its national ranking was its average freshman retention rate of 94 percent. In 2011, the university’s graduation rate was predicted to be 77 percent but was actually higher—at 83 percent. In the same year, 39 percent of UGA classes had less than 20 students while only 11 percent had more than 50, and 93 percent of UGA faculty were considered full time.
The 2012 college rankings are available online at www.usnews.com. They also are published in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 edition of America’s Best Colleges guidebook, available now.
