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U.S. News ranks CSU in top tier, recognizes university for developing writing skills

Posted Monday, September 19, 2011

CSU is once again ranked in the top tier of the latest U.S. News and World Report "America's Best Colleges" edition, but the university is also being recognized as part of a small group of prestigious institutions that encourage writing across campus.

Colorado State ranks No. 63 among public universities on the list of top-tier public and private doctoral universities and 128th overall among public and private institutions. A complete list of rankings and methodologies is available at www.usnews.com.

This latest ranking follows CSU's recent announcement of record research expenditures. The National Science Foundation has ranked CSU second in the nation for federal research dollars spent among all public universities without a medical school, cementing CSU's reputation as one of the nation's best research institutions.

Productive faculty contribute to ranking

"We're proud that CSU provides students with an outstanding, competitive education, and our faculty is among the most productive in the country when it comes to research that impacts the quality of life in Colorado and around the world," said Colorado State President Tony Frank. "Overall, these rankings are a strong indicator of the quality of our state's system of higher education: The three top research universities are once again included in the top tier despite serious funding challenges."

U.S. News also highlighted Colorado State as an outstanding example of institutions that encourage "Writing in the Disciplines" – a distinction that helps drive student success, according to the magazine. Also listed among the 17 schools in the category were Brown University, Carleton College, Cornell University, Duke University, Harvard University and Princeton University.

"These colleges typically make writing a priority at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum," the magazine said. "Students are encouraged to produce and refine various forms of writing for a range of audiences in different disciplines."

Colorado State is one of the nation's premier research universities. Over the past six years, research spending at Colorado State has increased 24 percent, even at a time of significant cuts in federal research funding nationwide. For the most recent fiscal year, expenditures rose to $330.8 million from $302.9 million in Fiscal Year 2010. Of that $330.8 million, federal awards-based expenditures increased 9 percent to $236.6 million from $211.7 million the previous year.

In the most recent report from NSF for Fiscal Year 2008-2009, Colorado State ranks second in the nation among public research universities without a medical school.

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