Colorado State University in the Top Tier of America’s Best Colleges for 2004
U.S. News and World Report’s "Best Colleges" edition today ranked Colorado State University in the top tier of the best colleges in the nation.
U.S. News and World Report listed Colorado State in the top tier of doctoral universities, closely ranked with universities such as Florida State University, University of Kentucky, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Oklahoma. (See www.usnews.com for the complete rankings and methodology.)
"This ranking is an indication of Colorado State’s exceptional faculty, nationally-recognized academic and research programs and top-quality students, as well as the university’s commitment to maintaining the highest-quality education in a challenging economic environment," said Colorado State President Larry Penley. "While we never base our actions or beliefs on such rankings, this does confirm what students and alumni already know – that Colorado State’s strong commitment to students has created an outstanding educational experience."
Other Colorado universities also ranked in the top tier include the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Denver.
The magazine rankings follow a series of other accolades for Colorado State and its programs. Colorado State recently ranked among the nation’s top 5 percent of public and private institutions of higher education receiving federal research and development financial support in engineering and the sciences, according to the National Science Foundation. In addition to ranking among the nation’s top universities receiving overall research funding when compared with other public research universities without medical schools, Colorado State ranked second in the nation in federal research and development support.
The veterinary medicine program is ranked second in the nation by U.S. News and World Report in this year’s ranking of veterinary medicine programs by the magazine. It was the only veterinary medical program in the Western states to be ranked among the top 10. Colorado State’s veterinary teaching hospital is home to the world’s largest animal cancer center.
While Colorado State maintained its top national ranking, university officials have expressed concern that funding cuts for the past two years may impact the university’s ability to maintain or rise in the rankings because institutional financial support is a critical factor used by U.S. News and World Report in evaluating colleges across the country.
Other honors the university has received recently include:
– Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, in its October 2002 edition, listed Colorado State as one of the top 100 public universities in the nation in terms of quality of education and affordability.
– The Templeton Foundation lists Colorado State as a top character building institution.
– In April 2003, the vocational/technical education program ranked in the top 10 graduate programs of its kind in the country by U.S. News and World Report. Colorado State is one of the leading members of the national University Council for Workforce and Human Resource Education.
– The occupational therapy program also was included in U.S. News’ top 10 graduate programs in this discipline in the latest ranking and was honored as a Program of Excellence by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education in 2001.
– Kaplan’s 2004 Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges lists Colorado State as a top university in the categories of schools that are hot and trendy, schools with the most beautiful campus in an urban setting, schools with the most beautiful campus in a suburban or rural setting and schools where the students enjoy themselves so much they never want to leave.
– Colorado State ranked near the top in the nation (11th) for most Peace Corps volunteers this year, according to the organization.
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