U.S. News & World Report ranks IUB programs among top in nation

U.S. News & World Report has named several IU-Bloomington programs among the best in the country for the second year in a row. In their annual report of "America's best colleges of 2004"\nIUB tied for 27th among public national research universities and the Kelley School of Business ranked tenth in undergraduate business programs. \nAccording to their website, the magazine bases their ratings on seven categories: peer assessment, freshman retention and six-year graduation rate, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni donations, and graduation rate performance.\nIUB Chancellor Sharon Brehm said IU looks at the rankings each year like everyone else, but the overall ratings are not as important as the feedback they receive about individual departments. \n"We prefer more specific ratings than a whole campus rating because they tend to come from people who really know the discipline," Brehm said. "For instance, we are very pleased about the Kelley School."\nThe Kelley School of Business's undergraduate program was ranked tenth out of all the nation's public and private universities and colleges. The only Big Ten business school which ranked higher than IU was the University of Michigan School of Business.\nDan Dalton, Dean of the Kelley School of Business, said the school is delighted to be among the highest echelon of business schools in the country. \n"We're very pleased when you consider that the top ten is comprised of both private and public institutions," Dalton said, "it's a very special recognition."\nDalton said the Kelley School pays close attention to the U.S. News & World Report rankings for a number of reasons. First, along with a certain reputation that is established by these rankings, the school is better able to recruit valuable students, faculty and staff. He said many Kelley school alumni are very interested in the rankings because they underscore their achievements. Finally, they help with providing Kelley students with internships and employment due to the high exposure. \nIUB also tied for 27th in the category of best public national research universities. Brehm said she does not believe this ranking will have much fiscal effect on the research department at IU because research funding is based on the quality and expertise of the investigator and the ability of the university to support the investigator, not the university's ranking.\nThe report also acknowledged IU for having a high quality of educational experiences for first year students, such as Intensive Freshmen Seminars. Brehm cited one of the reasons IU was labeled a Time magazine's top research facility of 2001 was due to IFS.\n"I think now that both Time and U.S. News have selected us as a top research facility, it suggests we are quite good," she said. \nU.S. News & World Report announced that changes have been made to its methodology for this year's ranking. As a result, year-to-year comparisons are not valid. The rankings no longer include the yield rate -- the percentage of students who actually enroll in a school -- which had been controversial nationally because of its influence on school choice.\n-- Contact World Editor Christina Galoozis at cgaloozi@indiana.edu.