OSU recognized in prestigious rankings

Ohio State continues to rise in the rankings of national public universities.

Every year U.S. News & World Report compares colleges and universities from across the nation and ranks them based on how they fare in terms of student selectivity, freshmen retention and peer assessment.

This year OSU moved up one spot to tie for 21st in the "Top 50 Public National Universities" along with Purdue, Rutgers, Texas A&M and the University of Iowa. Miami University, the only other Ohio public university to make the list, is in a two-way tie at 26.

OSU has also improved on a national scale when compared with public and private institutions combined. This year the school is at 60 - an improvement from its ranking of 62 last year. The top 20 schools on the list are all private colleges and universities. The only Ohio institution to rank ahead of Ohio State is Case Western Reserve University, a private school in the Cleveland region. It is in a three-way tie at 37. 

OSU's steady climb in the rankings can be attributed to its yearly increases in average freshmen retention. According to the U.S. News report, last year OSU managed to retain an average of 86 percent of freshman in comparison to 87 percent this year.

According to a recent press release, U.S. News listed OSU's First Year Experience program as an "outstanding example of a program that leads to student success" for the fourth consecutive year. The program focuses on organizing special events and receptions to give first-year students an opportunity to make friends, transition from a high school to a college curriculum and balance their academic and social schedules.

This year Ohio State has increased in the number of accepted freshmen who were in the top 10 percent of their high school class, up 1 percent from last year. The percentage of classes with more than 50 students decreased slightly while classes with 20 students and fewer remained the same. The percent of full-time faculty also decreased from 90 to 89 percent, but compared to other institutions nationally, these numbers are still among the highest in the nation. 

According to a recent press release, OSU is also one of the top 10 public research universities in the country and ranks 15th in comparison to all research universities in the country - public and private.

"These rankings raise our reputation, help us attract resources, and give students the chance to work with exciting, cutting-edge faculty," said OSU President Karen A. Holbrook in a statement.

Student selectivity is another factor noted by the magazine. Currently OSU accepts 76 percent of applicants - up 4 percent from last year.

The university's efforts to become more selective in admission by raising academic and community service standards will help improve the university's rankings overall, said Jack Cooley, assistant vice provost of undergraduate studies. It will also allow for future and current students to receive a more personalized collegiate experience, he said.

"Selective does not mean we are becoming an elite institution. It means we are trying to get an undergraduate student population that is high in success," Cooley said. "By attracting students who have a better fit with Ohio State, retention rates are higher and students are completing degrees in a timely manner and going off to careers at higher levels."

Peer assessment - how universities' fellow colleagues view their curriculum and overall demeanor - counts for one-quarter of the ranking score and is a five-point scale with five being the most highly favored. It generally reflects the overall score of the school.

Ohio State maintained a high peer assessment of 3.6 and was named Ohio's best public university.

"Ultimately this recognition benefits students because it means that they are getting a great degree from a great university," Holbrook said.