The university maintained its ranking as the No. 4 public university in U.S. News & World Report’s annual report of the nation’s best undergraduate colleges and universities.
The 2014 rankings were released online today.
U-M was ranked No. 29 among the nation’s best national universities, down one from last year.
University officials noted that what matters most in choosing a school is the match between the particular interests, abilities and ambitions of each student and the specific programs, approaches and opportunities offered by a particular school.
UM-Dearborn was rated among the best regional universities in the Midwest. It was ranked at No. 35, up one from last year. It also maintained its ranking as the No. 7 regional public school in the Midwest.
The College of Engineering undergraduate program again ranks No. 7 nationally. In specialty rankings, engineering is among the top five in six specialty areas:
• Aerospace engineering (second).
• Electrical/electronic communications (fifth).
• Environmental/environmental health (fourth).
• Industrial/manufacturing (second).
• Materials (fourth).
• Mechanical (third).
Among regional universities, the engineering program at UM-Dearborn was tied with six other schools at No. 34, down from No. 33 last year.
The Stephen M. Ross School of Business undergraduate program ranks No. 4 nationally, down from No. 2 last year. It is among the top five schools in five specialties:
• Finance (third).
• International business (fifth).
• Management (first).
• Marketing (first).
• Product/operations (fifth).
For the second consecutive year, U.S News & World Report released rankings on the top schools that help veterans and active service members apply, pay for and complete their degrees. UM-Flint was ranked No. 36, down from No. 27 last year.
U-M also was recognized for a number of programs that lead to student success, including first-year experience, learning communities, service learning and undergraduate research and creative projects. These schools are listed in alphabetical order in the report.
U.S. News released its graduate rankings earlier this year.
U-M now has 100 graduate programs ranked in the top 10 by U.S. News & World Report. Only Harvard, Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley have more graduate programs in the top 10.
Editors’s note: This story has been corrected from an earlier version, which contained an incorrect ranking for the Ross School’s finance program.
Bob Saget
Who cares? Is the University of Michigan so unsure of its own veracity as a premier institution that it has to pay attention, much less, lend credence to these ridicules rankings/popularity contest?
Maria Bamford
Dear Bob-
Take out the commas
“ridiculous”
Either make it “this ranking/popularity contest” or “these rankings/popularity contests.” Or better yet, make it “these rankings and popularity contests.”
You write like you go here, sugar. 😉
Bob Saget
Thanks for proving my point. 😉
With a pedantic remark like that, which ignores the validity of the argument presented, I can only assume that you have some association with the University as well.
Maria Bamford
Of course I do, and what argument? That national rankings are ridiculous? That’s not really an argument, it’s more of a statement of fact.
Nate Grinstead
I think Bob doesn’t sense when he’s being trolled. Also, for someone who’s overly concerned about ridiculous popularity contests, he seems to spend a lot of time reading and commenting on articles from the Public Affairs department.
That being said, even as a popularity contest it has the potential to change opinions of prospective students. Before I applied to graduate school at U-M I checked the rankings although I don’t think I cared much what the exact numbers were.
Chad Ordus
Thank you for the information. I found it informational
Jennifer Saffran
More importantly, this shows that public education can compete with the most elite schools in the country. Who really cares about a few ranks up or down, since US News and World Report rankings are biased, as any ranking system would be. What matters is that Michigan makes a world class education accessible to people who otherwise would not have been able to go to a private school.
Bo Schembechlet
Bob had one comma mistake. The after “less” should be after “credence.” His point is valid. Signed, UM English Major Class of 1979.
Michael Newberry
What I would like to know is who in the public affairs department thinks this is authoritative, if even meaningful, information. Consider the premise: UM is 4th among public and 29th overall among US universities. Then it is curious how UM has, for many years, ranked between 10 and 20 worldwide in peer reviewed academic studies that actually know what they are doing. Likewise, to suggest UM offers a good education to students who cannot afford a private school, with the implication that private always trumps public in terms of quality, is uninformed. The people at USN&WR know little more about university and program rankings than they do about their high school rankings based on the specious metric of percentage of students taking AP exams. Remember: Their goal is to sell product — a magazine, not actually to carve out a peer reviewed position of authority in the field of academic assessment. It is unfortunate that we’ll intentioned parents believe this rot; tragic is that UM’s own megaphone repeats this nonsense. Rest assured that UM is well above 29th in the US and is one of the premier world universities.
T.W. Morrison
As much as it hurts, I have to admit the UM is fine academic institution worthy of the all the praise and plaudits thrown its way. Congats, Wolverines. TWM Ohio State, 1951