FIU continues rapid rise in national rankings, UF and UM hold their spots
After leaping 17 spots in national rankings last year, Florida International University rose another six this year.
Over two years, the largest public university in South Florida shot up from No. 95 to No. 72 among public universities, according to the U.S. News & World Report 2023 Best Colleges rankings. The lower the number — No. 1 is tops — the better.
U.S. News, an online magazine, produces annual lists of public and private universities in different categories.
“We’re feeling pretty good about it,” said FIU President Kenneth Jessell. “When we did our strategic plan in 2020, we wanted to focus on student success and research excellence, and we’re just so proud that all of these initiatives that we’ve put in place have really started to pay off. And it’s being noticed by multiple ranking groups that look at these type of quality indicators, so we could not be happier.”
The rankings were released Monday.
FIU tied with Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado; CUNY-City College in New York, New York; James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia; Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan; Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon; San Diego State University in San Diego, California; the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio; the University of Mississippi in University, Mississippi; the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska; and the University of Texas-Dallas in Dallas, Texas.
In the future, FIU, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week, will try to break into the Top 50 list of public schools, Jessell said.
READ MORE: From a former airfield to an educational powerhouse — FIU’s first 50 years
Among public and private universities, FIU secured the No. 151 ranking, an improvement from last year’s No. 162.
Despite scandals, UF holds onto Top 5 ranking
Amid a year marred with academic freedom infringement accusations lodged by some of its faculty, the University of Florida maintained its ranking as No. 5 among the nation’s public universities, the first and only public university in the state to reach that level.
UF, in Gainesville, tied with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
“Moving up is always very difficult. We’ll continue to work and to improve our programs to the extent possible but we’re pretty happy with No. 5 this year,” said UF Provost Joe Glover.
READ MORE: UF professors accuse task force examining expert testimony of having its own conflicts
Glover said UF will “fine tune” a few metrics to continue advancing.
“For example, our retention rates. We need to improve those probably by a percentage point. We actually need to improve the university’s reputation a little bit, because I’m not sure everyone recognizes how well the University of Florida is doing,” he said.
The university’s reputation has been tarnished by some of its professors alleging UF’s top officials were interfering with academic freedom. Last year, three professors whom UF initially barred from testifying in a lawsuit against the state’s new voting law sued the university alleging their First Amendment rights were violated. UF medical researchers said they felt “external pressure” to destroy COVID-19 data, according to a Faculty Senate committee report last year.
Glover said this year’s reputation score is the same as it was last year; the university will try to increase it for next year.
To calculate the rankings, U.S. News uses 17 metrics on academic quality, including graduation rates, retention rates, graduate indebtedness, social mobility and undergraduate academic reputation, which accounts for 20 percent of the ranking. To read more about the methodology, click here.
Among public and private universities, UF slightly dropped from No. 28 to No. 29.
READ MORE: Amid tensions with faculty over COVID and academic freedom, UF president to step down
UM stays put
The University of Miami, the largest private university in South Florida, remained at No. 55 among public and private universities, the same ranking as last year.
UM, based in Coral Gables, tied with Florida State University in Tallahassee; Pepperdine University in Malibu, California; Rutgers University-New Brunswick in Piscataway, New Jersey; Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California; the University of Maryland, College Park in College Park, Maryland; and the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.
Jacqueline Menendez, UM’s vice president for communications, said in an email to the Herald: “We are proud to draw impressive talent to South Florida, to make groundbreaking discoveries, to unite our communities, and to play a critical role in protecting health and wellbeing. Those are our most important measures of success.”
Other rankings in Florida
▪ Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee ranked seventh best among Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCU), the same recognition as the two past years. Because the top six schools are private, the Tallahassee-based university stands out as the top public HBCU in the nation.
▪ Florida Memorial University (FMU), a private institution based in Miami Gardens, ranked among HBCUs this year, unlike last year, bagging the No. 45 on that list. It also ranked 45th on the list of best regional colleges in the South, better than last year’s 58th.
▪ For its fourth straight year, Florida State University (FSU), also in Tallahassee, ranked No. 19 among public universities. It also held last year’s No. 55 among public and private universities.
▪ The University of South Florida (USF), in Tampa, rose from No. 46 last year to No. 42 this year among public universities. USF also moved from No. 103 last year to No. 97 this year among public and private schools.
▪ The University of Central Florida (UCF), in Orlando, landed as 64th among public institutions, up from 67th last year, and as 137th among all national schools, up from 148th last year.
▪ Nova Southeastern University, a private school based in Fort Lauderdale, fell six spots among public and private universities, from No. 213 last year to No. 219 this year.
▪ Keiser University, a private university based in Fort Lauderdale, climbed 80 spots to No. 219 among public and private universities, putting it in a tie with NSU.
▪ Barry University, a private institution based in Miami Shores, slid. Last year, Barry placed between No. 299 and No. 391 on the national universities list; this year it ranked between No. 331 and No. 440. The range reflects a group of schools within this ranking.
▪ Miami Gardens-based St. Thomas University, a private school, went from scoring No. 80 rating among best regional Southern universities, to classifying between No. 331 and No. 440 among public and private universities.
To see all of U.S. News ranking lists, click here.
