USU Ranks Among Nation's Elite in 2014 Washington Monthly College Rankings

As Utah State University closes fall semester 2014, the institution can add a few more bragging rights to its continually rising, national reputation. The university was ranked as the 17th best public national university in the nation, number 23 overall, in Washington Monthly’s 2014 College Rankings.

Washington Monthly rates schools based on their contributions to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarships and doctorate programs) and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).

In the Washington Monthly rankings, USU is in company with the likes of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California Davis, Ohio State University and University of Notre Dame. This is the second time the university has placed highly in the rankings.

“These rankings showcase our strengths as a university and highlight our land-grant mission of learning, discovery and engagement that resonates in the rankings criteria,” said USU President Stan L. Albrecht. “We are proud of our institution and the fact that we are making a difference in the world and are influencing the future of the nation’s educational system.”

As one of the two premier research institutions in Utah, the university prides itself in providing a high-quality education at an affordable price. And as the state’s land-grant university, USU extends opportunities to students across the state, both through its main campus in Logan, and through a system of regional campuses.

President Albrecht said USU is also known for its vibrant student body with the oldest residential campus in Utah.

“We have more than 200 student clubs and organizations, including the Special Olympics and Best Buddies programs, which are some of the largest in the country,” Albrecht said. “For many of our students, it isn’t even about getting credit, but about making a difference. There’s a reason the USU chapter of AmeriCorps is the largest in the state and one of the largest in the West.”

While the Washington Monthly ranking is impressive by itself, the university has also garnered attention on several other national lists during the past few months including:

Academic Achievements:

#2 highest-ranked public university in the West and #4 in the nation for lowest tuition in “America’s Top Colleges” (Forbes, “Top Colleges,” Aug. 2014)
Ranked in top 2 percent of prestigious graduate schools of education in the United States for the past 15 years, Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services (U.S. News and World Report, “America's Best Graduate Schools,” 2015 edition)
Ranked 8th in the nation’s best public national universities for graduates with the least debt (U.S. News & World Report, “Least Debt, Best Colleges 2015,” Sep. 2014)
#14 university in the nation based on out-of-state tuition because of affordability, academic quality and accessibility (College Atlas.org, “Best Colleges and Universities 2014,” Nov. 2014)
Top 2.4 percent among the 22,000 plus degree-granting institutions of higher education worldwide in CWUR 2014 World University Rankings (Center for World University Rankings, “Top Universities,” July 2014)

The university also has reason to celebrate as it received a record $220 million in sponsored awards research funding during the 2014 fiscal year, the highest level of external support ever recorded.

Sponsored awards include research grants for campus and the USU Research Foundation, federal allocations from formula funds and federal student financial aid. The research funding record came amidst several years of tight federal budgets.

“We know that access to federal allocations for research are more competitive than ever,” said Mark McLellan, vice president for research and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Utah State. “That’s why it’s so impressive that most of our gains were made in federal funding — an increase of 40 percent.”

Major sources of USU’s federal funding include the Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Agriculture.

For more information, visit Washington Monthly.

Writer and Contact: Maren Aller, 435-797-1355, maren.aller@usu.edu