CU campuses, programs maintain elevation in national rankings

The campuses and undergraduate programs of the University of Colorado maintained high rankings among national and regional institutions in the latest edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges.

The 2013 report, released Wednesday, shows the University of Colorado Boulder ranked at No. 42 among top Public National Universities; the University of Colorado Denver’s downtown campus ranked 108th on the same list.

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs ranked in the top tier of Public Regional Universities of the West, and 38th overall among Regional Universities of the West.

Other highlights:

•    UCCS’ undergraduate engineering program ranked 9th among public engineering schools whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s, and 25th among public, private and for-profit institutions.

•    CU-Boulder’s undergraduate engineering program came in at 19th among public institutions whose highest degree is a doctorate, 34thoverall. Within engineering, kudos went to aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical (No. 12).

•    CU-Boulder’s undergraduate business program came in at 22nd among public universities, 36th overall.

CU-Boulder (No. 97) and CU Denver (No. 189) also remained among the top overall National Universities, which also includes private and for-profit institutions.

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 U.S. institutions (173 public, 101 private and seven for profit) 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 2013 edition Best Colleges book is available online and will be on newsstands Sept. 18.