KU News Release

KU academics continue to garner national notice

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas continues to be ranked among the nation’s top 50 public universities, according to U.S. News and World Report. In the magazine’s America’s Best Colleges 2008 issue, released today, KU moved up for the third consecutive year to its highest spot since 2002.

KU was ranked 38th among 164 top national public institutions. The magazine’s rankings are based on a survey of top university administrators, retention rates, graduation rates, faculty resources, selectivity of  admissions, per-student financial resources and alumni giving rate.

KU’s schools of business and engineering also ranked in the top 50 among public schools. Business was 36th, and engineering was placed at 46th.

Already this year, KU has collected top national rankings for its academic offerings. In U.S. News’ America’s Best Graduate Schools rankings for 2007, there were 43 nationally ranked academic programs at the Lawrence campus and the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. Among those programs, 23 ranked among the top 25 in their discipline. In the magazine’s Best Hospitals issue, KU Hospital was ranked 30th in the nation for heart care and heart surgery.

Also, KU is the only Kansas school in the recently released 2008 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. “With solid academics, outstanding extracurricular programs, winning athletics and a stellar social life, the University of Kansas is one of higher education’s best buys,” the guide states. “With relatively low tuition, its academic value is also hard to top.”

The new Fiske guide notes KU’s “gorgeous campus” and  says the university offers “strong programs in a full slate of professional schools.”

Addressing “pre-professionals,” KU is ranked as “strong” in architecture, business, journalism, engineering and film/television. Noting KU’s draw throughout the Midwest, Chicago in particular, the guide notes that KU enrolls twice as many out-of-state students than the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Previous U.S. News rankings for KU among national public universities: 39 in 2002; 41 in 2003; 44 in 2004; 42 in 2005; 45 in 2006; 39 in 2007.

KU’s programs ranked in the top 25 among public universities are:

1. City management and urban policy (master)
1. Special education (master/doctorate)
2. Community health (master/doctorate) tied
3. Paleontology (doctorate)
4. Public management administration (master)
4. Occupational therapy (master/doctorate), tied
5. Audiology (master/doctorate)
5. Public affairs (master), tied
6. Speech-language-pathology (master)
7. Petroleum engineering
8. Social work (master) tied
9. Nursing-midwifery (master/doctorate) tied
10. Physical therapy (master/doctorate) tied
12. Music (master) tied
12. School of Education (doctorate) tied
16. Pharmacy (PharmD) tied
17. Public finance and budgeting (master)
19. Clinical child psychology (doctorate) tied
22. Healthcare management (master) tied
23. Clinical psychology (doctorate) tied
23. Drama/theatre (master) tied
24. History (doctorate) tied
25. Nursing-anesthesia (master) tied

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.