Working its way up the anteater hill

Marisa O’Neil

High school students across the nation look to U.S. News & World

Report’s college rankings each year, and once again, UCI held its own

among the nation’s top universities.

UCI was ranked 12th of all public universities nationwide and 43rd

of public and private universities in the annual college ratings.

This is the second year in a row UCI held the No. 12 spot.

“These are very important,” said Ron Huff, dean of UCI’s school of

social ecology. “These rankings are being taken more and more

seriously by prospective students and parents. We are pleased to be

ranked 12th again.”

U.S. News & World Report uses factors like student retention,

graduation rates and alumni donations to rank schools each year,

said Richard Folkers, spokesman for the magazine. This is the 21st

year it has ranked colleges and universities.

UC Berkeley earned the top spot of public universities, and

Harvard and Princeton tied for best university in the nation. In the

nationwide rankings, UCI tied for 43rd place with Louisiana’s Tulane

University, up from 45th last year.

The ranking is particularly impressive because UCI, not quite 40

years old, is ranked among 150-year-old academic institutions, Huff

said.

And UCI is doing it in a period of phenomenal growth, said Ronald

Stern, dean of the school of physical sciences. UCI has hired 50% of

its faculty within the last six years, he said.

“That indicates what a high quality public institution UCI is,”

Stern said. “We continue to excel. We’re growing fast, and we

continue to improve.”

According to the magazine, 93% of freshmen stay at UCI, which has

a 79% graduation rate. In 2003, 96% of its freshmen graduated in the

top 10% of their high school classes.

People are putting more and more stock into the annual ratings,

Folkers said, but prospective students should look at the big picture

when selecting a university.

“A ranking like this -- ours or from anybody -- can be a good

tool,” he said. “But a ranking all by itself is no way to pick a

college. Students have to pick the best fit.”