CU undergraduate programs make the grade nationally

The University of Colorado continues to be recognized for its high level of excellence in the new edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings, which focus on the academic quality of undergraduate programs across the country.

Just released, the list of Best National Universities for 2018 has the University of Colorado Boulder at No. 39 among top public national universities. CU Boulder is 90th among all public, private and for-profit universities in the country. See more rankings in CU Boulder Today.

Among publics, the University of Colorado Denver is No. 113 on the Best National Universities list. It lands at No. 207 among all national universities.

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs is sixth on the list of top public regional universities of the West and 35th overall among regional universities of the West.

Other Best Colleges highlights from U.S. News & World Report:

• CU Boulder’s undergraduate engineering program is 16th among public institutions whose highest degree is a doctorate; 30th among all national universities.
• CU Boulder’s undergraduate business program at the Leeds School of Business ranks 20th among public universities and 31st overall.
• CU Denver’s undergraduate business program is 58th among public universities and 91st overall among national universities.
• The undergraduate program in the UCCS College of Business is 79th among public universities and 128th overall among national universities.
• CU Denver also is included on a list of the national universities where students graduate with the lightest debt load. In 2016, just 54 percent of graduates had debt, which averaged $19,378.

The rankings made available in advance by U.S. News & World Report are incomplete; more CU schools and programs are included on expanded lists in the publication.

U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings are based on measures of academic peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. “National Universities” are the 311 institutions – 190 public, 114 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 https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges.

The U.S. News rankings also will be published in the “Best Colleges 2018” guidebook, which begins shipping in late September and will be available Oct. 10 on newsstands.

U.S. News’ annual rankings for graduate programs are issued in the spring.