UConn President Lauds Spot in U.S. News and World Report Top 20

STORRS, CT — University of Connecticut Pesident Susan Herbst reacted positively on Tuesday to the 2017 U.S. News & World Report annual higher education rankings.

Among the top national public universities, UConn slipped one spot from No. 19 to No. 20 in the 2017 report.

Overall, among all national universities UConn ranked No. 60.
UConn is marking its sixth consecutive year among the nation’s Top 25 public universities as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

The No. 20 ranking was released Tuesday. Herbst said it, “reflects UConn’s strong graduation and retention rates, academic excellence, faculty resources, and several other factors that the magazine weighs in its annual evaluations. UConn was No. 19 last year, and has remained between No. 19 and No. 21 each year since 2011.”

Here are other comments from Herbst:

“Universities expect some movement on this list annually. Moving a place or two up or down in a given year is not significant. A school’s overall trajectory is what to watch. UConn has gone from being number 38 among public universities only 15 years ago to being a top 25 university for the last six years. We intend to remain there.

“There are two factors at work. The first is movement among other schools, which we cannot control. This year, one top UConn peer university fell while another rose. The combined effect likely pushed UConn down a notch. The second is that temporary budget pressure has meant slower faculty hiring as we have enrolled more students. This can affect some U.S. news measures.

“UConn remains very strong in key areas. Our retention and graduation rates are high and holding steady, our academic reputation is firm and we have successfully maintained the academic quality of our incoming classes, even as enrollment has grown.”

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel