U.S. News and World Report’s 2018 national college and university rankings places Ohio State at No. 16 for public schools and No. 54 overall for universities. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo Editor
Ohio State has again ranked near the top of U.S. News and World Report’s 2018 college and university rankings.
The university is No. 16 for top public schools and No. 17 for best undergraduate teaching programs, according to the rankings report. Among universities nationally, Ohio State comes in at No. 54.
According to U.S. News and World Report’s website, 1,800 universities were reviewed on data recorded from the 2016-17 academic year. The schools were evaluated on 15 indicators of excellence, such as class size, standardized test scores of incoming students and average graduation rate.
Ohio State ranked No. 54 nationally for the second year in a row. It came in at No. 52 two years ago before falling two spots.
“Teaching and learning are key components of the university’s strategic plan, and this recognition is an indicator of our continued focus in this area,” said Ohio State President Michael Drake in a statement on the rankings.
Some of Ohio State’s colleges have also received recognition; Fisher College of Business is rated No. 15 in the country and Ohio State’s College of Engineering is rated No. 30.
Ohio State has a 0.36 ethnic diversity rate, according to the report, meaning the likelihood that a student would encounter a minority student of a different background while on campus, according to data from the 2016-17 academic year, is 36 percent. U.S. News and World Report uses a diversity index of 1, meaning the closer the diversity rate is to 1, the more diverse the student population is.
Andrews University, Rutgers University-Newark, and UNLV have the highest ethnic diversity rate of 0.75.
U.S. News and World Report said it excludes international students in the diversity rate. Eight percent of Ohio State students are international, according to the report. The school with the highest percentage of international students is the Florida Institute of Technology, with a reported 33 percent.
Additionally, the university has a 59 percent four-year graduation rate, meaning 59 percent of Ohio State students graduate with a bachelor’s degree in four years. Pomona College had the highest four-year graduation rate of 92 percent.
Princeton is ranked the No. 1 overall university in the nation, followed by Harvard, the University of Chicago, Yale and Columbia, to round out the top five.
Other nationally ranked Ohio schools include Miami University at No. 78, University of Cincinnati at No. 133 and Ohio University at No. 151.
