October 15, 1999
Contact: Ranjit Arab, University Relations, (785) 864-8855.
LAWRENCE -- Once again, the University of Kansas has been ranked among the top 50 public national universities in academic reputation, according to U.S. News and World Report.
In its annual America's Best Colleges issue, on newsstands now, the magazine rated the nation's top 147 public and 81 private institutions according to their academic reputation. To determine the rankings, the magazine surveyed presidents, academic officers and admission directors of the universities.
KU was 38th among the nation's 147 top public institutions. Only five other Big 12 schools were ranked among the top 50 national public universities. They were Iowa State University, Ames; the University of Texas, Austin; Texas A&M, College Station; the University of Colorado, Boulder; and the University of Missouri, Columbia.
"I am pleased to once again see that U.S. News and World Report ranks KU among the nation's finest public institutions," KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway said. "The ranking simply reaffirms the fact that our reputation is widely recognized throughout the academic community."
The magazine also rated undergraduate business and engineering programs. In both cases, rankings were determined by a survey of deans and senior faculty from similar programs across the nation.
The School of Business undergraduate program at KU ranked among the nation's top 50 programs, finishing 45th place among the nation's 327 undergraduate business programs accredited by the International Association of Management Education, and 26th among public business schools in that group.
Thomas Sarowski, dean of the School of Business at KU, said he was pleased to see that the program was regarded among the most elite business schools in the nation. Furthermore, the ranking of the program continues to improve, he said. Two years ago, the KU business school was ranked 49th, while last year, it finished 46th place.
"What is most exciting to me is that the underlying score used to determine the ranking has continued to increase for us," he said. "We are clearly doing a better job in key areas."
KU's School of Engineering, meanwhile, ranked among the top 100 programs whose highest degree is a Ph.D. The engineering program was 74th place.