A&M No. 2 Among Public Universities In U.S. News “Great Schools, Great Prices” Rankings

Texas A&M University is the only public university in Texas to rank among the top 50 national universities in the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category of the 2013 ratings by U.S. News & World Report and it maintains its overall second-place ranking in that key assessment of national public institutions.

Mays Business School at Texas A&M moved up significantly in both overall and public university rankings, jumping eight places among undergraduate business programs at national public universities and 12 places overall to tie at 14th and 24th, respectively. It shares 14th place in the public category with the University of Arizona, Arizona State, Michigan State and the University of Washington. Overall, Boston College and Batson College, both private institutions, join in the 24th-place rankings.

Texas A&M’s Dwight Look College of Engineering  advanced to eighth place among engineering programs at national public universities one place higher than last year. It is tied with Penn State and Virginia Tech in that category. Texas A&M is tied for 16th place overall in engineering programs at national universities, with Rice University also sharing in that ranking.

Texas A&M remains among the top 25 public universities overall in the annual rankings announced by the magazine in advance of its “Best Colleges” guidebook that is scheduled to be on newsstands Sept. 18, according to an announcement by the publication’s editors. As in previous years, the publication’s “national universities” rankings are dominated by private universities. Texas A&M is tied for 23rd place among publics, sharing that distinction with Purdue University, and is tied for 65th overall with Purdue and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The University of California at Berkeley is the top-ranked public university, with an overall ranking of 21st, and Harvard University is the overall leader.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the only public university to rank higher than Texas A&M in the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category. Texas A&M is ranked 19th overall and is joined by Rice, at 10th place, as the only ranked Texas institutions in that category.

Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin said he is pleased to see Texas A&M  recognized once again on a “best value” basis and to have both its business and engineering programs advance this year and be rated among the best in the nation.

“I am delighted to see  that Texas A&M continues to be recognized by U.S. News & World Report for its lofty status in balancing value and quality of education,” Loftin said. “Overall, there are obviously many measures of what constitutes a great university, but we are delighted that the editors of the magazine acknowledge that Texas A&M continues to stand out as an institution that is among the very best nationally for offering a high-quality education at an affordable cost.

“It’s certainly gratifying to see that both our engineering and business programs are being increasingly recognized for their high academic quality,” Loftin continued. “We are fully committed to reaching the goals set forth in our Vision 2020 long-range study and will continue to strengthen and enhance our high academic standards and work to be recognized as one of the top 10 public universities in the country by the year 2020.”

Dean Jerry Strawser of the Mays Business School and Dean M. Katherine Banks of the Dwight Look College of Engineering joined Loftin in citing the academic advancements in their two programs, both of which also rank among the largest in the nation in their respective areas.

“We are obviously pleased with our movement forward in the recent U.S. News rankings,” said Mays Business School Dean Jerry Strawser. “To be recognized among the top business schools in the country is an honor, and reflects the high quality of our students and faculty and the success of our students upon graduation.”

“We are pleased to be ranked eighth among all public engineering institutions and acknowledged for our place among the national leaders in engineering education,” said Dean Banks, who also serves as vice chancellor for engineering for The Texas A&M University System. “Providing our students with a quality education is our highest priority and recognition such as this is a source of great pride for our current and former students.”

The U.S. News & World Report rankings are the latest results showing that Texas A&M is continuing to attract positive attention at the national level.

Washington Monthly ranked Texas A&M second among all U.S. universities — public or private in its rankings announced last month. That publication bases its ratings in large part on universities’ contributions to the public interest through endeavors such as service programs and research that drives economic growth. Texas A&M’s ranking by that publication is higher than any other institution in Texas.

The review that continues to attract the most attention is one in which The Wall Street Journal credited Texas A&M with ranking second nationally on the basis of employers’ satisfaction in hiring graduates of institutions throughout the nation.

Business and engineering are the only broad-based programs included in the U.S. News rankings of undergraduate programs. Graduate school ratings, published in a separate issue, cover more areas of study.