The U.S. News and World Report rankings of Americas colleges and universitiesreleased Tuesday included three schools from Florida ranked in the top 100 national universities.
The University of Miami placed 47th on the list, ranking it as the top university in the Sunshine State. Right behind it in 49th was the University of Florida. Officials from UF said they were pleased with moving up from 54th last year and moving from 17th to 14th among the top public universities in America.
Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature are supporting our effort to be among the nations top public universities, and we expect to continue our climb in future years, said Bernie Machen, the president of UF. Machen had been planning to retire but was convinced by Scott to remain at his position. This will benefit all students in Florida who deserve an opportunity to attend a top-ranked university in their home state.
University faculty, staff, students, and supporters helped pull UF through five difficult years of a down national economy and state budget cuts, said UF Provost Joseph Glover. UF's national ranking is in large part due to their efforts and reflects our continued quest to increase our standing among the nation's top public universities. With the full participation of the UF community, we look forward to the opportunity this year to build on this excellence.
Florida State University placed 91st in the rankings of national universities.
Florida schools did well at the regional level. Rollins College tied with Elon College in North Carolina to lead U.S. News list of regional universities in the South. Stetson University placed fifth among regional universities in the South.
Stetson President Wendy Libby pointed to the universitys rankings and noted it was placed fifth for Best Value among regional universities in the South.
At Stetson, we take pride in being recognized as an academically rigorous institution that places a high value on global citizenship, personal growth and social responsibility, said Libby on Tuesday. Stetson provides a personalized learning experience to each student, based on top quality faculty and focused on learning outcomes. We challenge our students to go beyond success to become significant in their communities, nation and the world.
Other schools in Florida placed among the top 100 regional universities in the South. Embry-Riddle University in 11th and the University of Tampa in 22nd. Palm Beach Atlantic University took 44th and the University of North Florida placed 51st. St. Leo University was 55th. Two schools from Florida -- Jacksonville University and St. Thomas University -- tied for 62nd in the regional university rankings. Florida Gulf Coast University placed 79th with the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg right behind in 80th.
Two schools from Florida placed in the top 10 of regional colleges in the South. Florida Southern College placed fifth and Flagler College took eighth. Southeastern University placed 36th among regional colleges in the South. Bethune-Cookman University took 41st and Keiser University was ranked 57th. Indian River State College was 74th.
Florida schools did not do as well in the ranking of national liberal arts colleges. The New College of Florida placed 89th, making it the only school in the Sunshine State included in that category.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.