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The University of Utah achieved its highest ranking ever in this week's Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), coming in at 79th. The school also moved up five spots to 124th in the U.S. News rankings, also released this week. Brigham Young University clocked in at 71st, up four spots, and Utah State University at 170th in U.S. News rankings that college-bound students across the nation use to determine where to apply.
The ARWU is compiled by the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China and is far less visible than the U.S. News rankings. Since the ARWU first appeared in 2003, the U. has always placed in the top 100 of the 1,000 international institutions ranked. To find BYU you need to scroll down to the 300s.
U. administrators have made no secret about their frustrations with the U.S. News criteria that seem to favor high-prestige schools on the coasts. Although the U. is the state flagship school, BYU, its privately owned in-state rival, always outshines it, while the Ivy League owns the top spots.
Not surprisingly, U. administrators prefer emphasizing the ARWU rankings, which use objective measures to judge the quality and quantity of institutions' research output.
"It's exciting to see the U. climbing in the prestigious Academic Ranking of World Universities because it is based on the performance of our faculty, staff, students and alumni — a true indication of the quality of education we offer and how that experience can have a lasting effect world-wide, even after our students graduate," said a news release quoting David Persing, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. The U.'s uptick in the U.S. News rankings was still welcome news, but the school shares the cellar with many of its new peers in the Pac 12. It's tied with University of Arizona, behind Washington State (115th) and ahead of Oregon State (138th) and Arizona State (132nd).
On a welcome note for the U., the U.S. News' ranking for the U.'s business school shot up 12 spots to 55th, while BYU's advanced to 36th.
"We've been working to improve our programs and get the word out to the better students we hope to attract," said Taylor Randall, dean of the David Eccles School of Business, in the U. release. "We realize these rankings aren't perfect, but this is an indicator of the work we've been doing over the past few years."
Meanwhile, BYU's accounting program was deemed the third best in the nation by U.S. News. It also drew high marks for going easy on students' wallets. Heavily subsidized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU charges less tuition than the U. Accordingly, BYU was ranked 13th in the nation for value and eighth for graduating students with the least amount of debt.
The U.'s improved overall showing could be the result of its rising admission standards. The number of U. freshmen in the top 10 percent of their high school class increased three percentage points to 26 percent, according to officials. It also gained two points in its retention rate, meaning 83 percent of freshman enrolled the next year.
Among Western regional universities, Westminster College was ranked 26th, Southern Utah University 71st and Weber State University 76th. Utah Valley University and Dixie State College were not ranked.