I think we’re pleased to see where we fall in. Our students love to see rankings that reflect positive on the university and we do as well. – Todd Hollingshead, BYU spokesman
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's private institutions of higher education earned high marks in the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings, with Brigham Young University breaking in the top 100 national universities and Westminster ranking 20th for regional universities in the western United States.
BYU tied with seven other schools — including Purdue University, the University of Georgia and Texas A&M University — for the 62nd position in the national rankings, which were released on Tuesday and are based on quantitative metrics such as retention, student selectivity, financial resources and graduation rates.
"I think we’re pleased to see where we fall in," BYU spokesman Todd Hollingshead said Wednesday. "Our students love to see rankings that reflect positively on the university and we do as well."
In the regional university category, or schools that predominantly offer associates and bachelors degrees, Westminster gained two positions to anchor the top 20 in the western region and was again recognized as a "Best Value" school, which recognizes a school's academic quality relative to its cost of attendance.
"We’re very excited that we’re being recognized for our whole experience," Westminster spokeswoman Krista DeAngelis said. "It’s important to us that we keep our education accessible and affordable to everybody but still maintain that quality."
Among the state's public schools, the University of Utah ranked 129 — tied with five others — and Utah State University ranked 194 — tied with six others — in the national rankings.
Southern Utah University led the state's regional universities, tying with four other schools for No. 58 in the western region.
The school jumped ahead 13 positions from its ranking last year, a positive trend that spokeswoman Jen Burt attributed to gains in graduation rates.
"We are second only to the University of Utah in the state system for graduation rates," she said. "We graduate more of our students and that is something that the U.S. News cares about."
Weber State University was ranked as No. 68 among western regional universities. Utah Valley University, Dixie State University and Western Governor's University were unranked.
David Buhler, Utah's commissioner of higher education, said rankings vary based on the criteria used to create them. But he added that they can be a valuable tool for students and families choosing between different educational options.
"Nothing like this is ever perfect," he said. "But I think it can be informative for consumers and particularly if you’re looking at more than one ranking (system)."
He said the U.S. News and World Report rankings show the competitive market that Utah's colleges and universities are in, but also show the lost cost of tuition that Utah institutions offer when compared to their peer schools.
Utah State University was tied in the rankings with Northern Illinois University. But the Dekalb, Illinois, school is listed as charging $13,636 for one year's in-state tuition, more than double the cost of attending USU.
"Generally when you look at the price tags, we have a very good value in Utah in our higher (education) institutions," Buhler said.
He also noted that the rankings use a graduation rate that is based on students completing their degrees in six years or less.
Because of the high number of Utah students who interrupt their studies for missionary service with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the state's six-year graduation rate tends to be lower than peer schools.
"If this were an eight-year graduation rate, we’d probably look a lot better," Buhler said.
The University of Utah's College of Engineering continued to improve its national ranking, climbing to 57th among undergraduate programs and 53rd for graduate programs.
“Undergraduate engineering degrees are offered by a total of 368 colleges, and the College of Engineering is pleased to have moved up in the rankings of undergraduate programs to 57th among Ph.D.-granting institutions,” College of Engineering Dean Richard B. Brown said in a prepared statement. “Our students are taught by faculty who are at the leading edge of their fields and who are pushing the research frontiers.”
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