NASHVILLE, Tenn. ñ Vanderbilt University has advanced to 18th in U.S.
News & World Report’s annual ranking of America’s best national
universities ñ up from the 19th spot last year.
The university is tied at 18th with University of Notre Dame; both were
tied at the 19th spot last year. Also noted in the magazine’s annual
survey is Vanderbilt’s School of Engineering as one of the best
undergraduate programs in the country. The university’s service
learning efforts made the list of "programs to look for," which are
described as academic programs "believed to lead to student success."
Vanderbilt was again singled out as a best value on the "great schools,
great prices" list, moving up to 20th among national universities from
26th on the magazine’s best values list last year. The listing is
determined by relating the school’s academic quality ñ as indicated by
its U.S. News ranking ñ to the net cost of attendance for a student who
receives the average level of financial aid. According to the magazine,
the higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the
better the deal.
"A U.S. News ranking is a snapshot that captures a very exciting time
at Vanderbilt," said Chancellor Gordon Gee. "Our focus on building a
truly excellent university is paying off in the recognition of
objective sources like U.S. News."
The university’s School of Engineering tied with seven universities at
39th on the list of "best undergraduate engineering programs."
Vanderbilt’s service learning program again received recognition ñ
listed among the top 23 institutions nominated most often by college
presidents, chief academic officers and deans of students as stellar
examples of programs that require or offer for-credit volunteer work in
the community as an instructional strategy to bolster classroom
learning.
All of the schools which held down the top positions in the "Best
National Universities" rankings last year are back again this year,
although there was some shuffling among the top five. The top spots
went to Harvard and Princeton, tied at No. 1; Yale, No. 3; University
of Pennsylvania, No. 4; and Duke, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and Stanford, all at No. 5.
The full rankings will be available on the U.S. News website, www.usnews.com, Friday. The rankings and additional information will be
in the newsstand book, America’s Best Colleges, which goes on sale Aug.
23. Some of the rankings will be included in the weekly edition of U.S.
News & World Report, which also goes on sale Aug. 23.
This is the 15th year in the 17-year history of the rankings that
Vanderbilt has been chosen by the magazine as one of the nation’s top
25 universities.
For more information about Vanderbilt, visit the Vanderbilt News Service homepage at www.vanderbilt.edu/News.
Media contact: Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS
princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu