U.S. News national rankings have high spots for CU

The nationally recognized excellence of the University of Colorado’s campuses and undergraduate programs is again highlighted in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, the 2014 edition of which was released Tuesday.

The annual rankings position the University of Colorado Boulder at No. 36 among top Public National Universities. CU-Boulder is 86th among all public, private and for-profit universities in the country. No other university in the state ranked higher than CU-Boulder.

The University of Colorado Denver ranked 108th among top Public National Universities. It earned No. 190 among all national universities.

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs ranked in the top 10 of Public Regional Universities of the West, and 42nd overall among Regional Universities of the West.

Other highlights:

• CU-Boulder’s undergraduate engineering program came in at 17th among public institutions whose highest degree is a doctorate, 32ndoverall. Within engineering, recognition went to aerospace (No. 11 among public institutions, No. 16 overall) and civil (No. 13 among publics, No. 20 overall). This is civil engineering’s first appearance on the list since 2006.
• CU Denver’s undergraduate engineering program came in at No. 139 among all institutions whose highest degree is a doctorate.
• UCCS’ undergraduate engineering program is fifth among public engineering schools whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s, including military service academies. Among public, private and for-profit universities combined, the undergraduate engineering program ranked 22nd.
• CU-Boulder’s undergraduate business program at the Leeds School of Business came in at 23rd among public universities, 38th overall. Business entrepreneurship is ranked ninth among publics, 18th overall.
• CU Denver’s undergraduate business program is 101st overall among national universities.
• The undergraduate program in the UCCS College of Business is No. 119 overall among national universities.
• CU-Boulder is listed among A-Plus Schools for B Students, a guide to the highest quality institutions affording opportunity to B students. Nationally, high school counselor rankings place the university at No. 69 overall.

U.S. News & World Report rankings are based on its measures of academic peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. “National Universities” are the 281 national universities – 173 public, 101 private and seven for-profit institutions – that offer a wide range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and doctoral degrees; some emphasize research.

The rankings are posted at http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges.

The 2014 edition Best Colleges book is available for purchase online. U.S. News’ annual rankings for graduate programs are issued in the spring.