Perlman: U.S. News rankings highlight quality, value at UNL

For the fourth straight year, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has made U.S. News and World Report's annual America's Best Colleges' Top 50 list for public national universities, moving up several positions in the rankings.

Showing improvement in seven of 12 key categories, UNL was tied with four other universities at 91st place overall in the magazine's "Best National Universities" list. Among public national universities, UNL is tied with two other universities at 42nd. Last year, UNL was 98th among Best National Universities and 46th among the public universities. The 2008 rankings were released at midnight eastern time today.

UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman said the rankings, although controversial, do provide data on key indicators of student success, including student retention (maintaining individual students' enrollment from year to year) graduation rates, and the overall quality of incoming students judged by ACT scores. The magazine's annual rankings provide an opportunity for the university to review key indicators of student success and cause awareness about data that can be significant.

"What struck me this year, is that among the Top 50 Public National Universities, only 30 states are on that list, offering their state's citizens access to their institution with affordable, in-state tuition," Perlman said. "Of the 25 states ranking higher than UNL, only four offer tuition lower than Nebraska. This is a remarkable value and quality proposition for Nebraskans."

In each U.S. News category, data on up to 15 indicators of academic quality are gathered from each school and tabulated according to the magazine's methodology. Schools are ranked within categories by their total weighted score. Among the key data, UNL's indicators rose in seven instances, stayed the same in three, and decreased in two instances. UNL's peer assessment score increased to 3.2 (of 5), its predicted graduation rate increased from 59 percent to 61 percent and retention increased from 81 to 82 percent.

Perlman noted the rankings continue to come under scrutiny among academia. He has long decried the rankings for failing to identify what truly tells stories of success and productivity on campuses: research productivity, stories of student achievement, faculty initiatives and service to the state's citizens.

Contact:Kelly Bartling, University Communications, (402) 472-2059