Four months after the Miller School earned the No. 47 spot on U.S. News & World Report‘s 2011 list of "America's Best Graduate Schools," the University of Miami achieved the same ranking on the magazine's 2011 list of "America's Best Colleges." Ascending 20 spots over the past nine years, UM is now the highest-ranked Florida school on the list.
"Wow" is how UM President Donna E. Shalala described the latest ranking, which is an improvement of three slots from last year's No. 50 position.
"This recognition is great news," she said, adding that UM will continue to improve in the years ahead.
The meteoric rise of UM, one of the youngest schools on the list, coincides with President Shalala's tenure. When she arrived in 2001, UM stood at No. 67 on the list.
"The cumulative and continuous improvement in the U.S. News ranking over the past nine years reflects UM's commitment to the students and their successful college experience," said UM Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc.
U.S. News editors have ranked the nation's top universities and colleges for the past 27 years. The 2011 edition of "America's Best Colleges" hits newsstands on August 31, but the rankings can be viewed now on the magazine's website at www.usnews.com.
UM shares the No. 47 ranking with Penn State and the University of Illinois, and is now ranked ahead of two of its peer institutions Tulane and Syracuse. In addition, U.S. News has ranked UM 48th in its "Great Schools, Great Prices" category.
The news of UM's latest ranking came as students began returning to campus in preparation for the 2010-2011 academic school year, and four months after the Miller School climbed four spots in the list of the best graduate schools.
The Miller School's physical therapy graduate program was ranked No. 7 in the nation by the same publication. The program has finished in the top ten every year since the specialty was added to the rankings in 1995.
Watch a video of President Shalala discussing UM's new U.S. News ranking.
