Carnegie Mellon University Maintains Top 25 Standing in 2005 U.S. News & World Report Survey

Carnegie Mellon University ranked 22nd overall and its undergraduate programs in engineering and business ranked among the 10 best in the country in U.S. News & World Report magazine's annual survey of "America's Best Colleges." The 2005 edition becomes available online on Friday, Aug. 20, and in magazine format on Aug. 23.

"Carnegie Mellon's showing in national rankings continues to be very strong. Surveys are just one measure of the overall excellence of our educational programs and confirm something we know — that Carnegie Mellon and its many graduate and undergraduate programs rank among the best in the nation, if not the world," said Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon.

Carnegie Mellon's undergraduate business and engineering programs were ranked sixth and eighth, respectively. U.S. News & World Report annually ranks engineering and business programs, as well as specialty areas within those disciplines.

In business specialty offerings, Carnegie Mellon ranked second in management information systems and quantitative analysis. It was ranked third in production and operations management. In engineering specialties, Carnegie Mellon ranked fifth best in computer engineering.

"Engineering continues to be a leader in undergraduate education. Our college has created innovative curriculum which provides our students with the skill-set to be competitive in the global marketplace," said Pradeep Khosla, dean of the College of Engineering.

Carnegie Mellon continues to make a strong showing in another magazine "best" category—that of "undergraduate research/creative projects." The magazine lists, but does not rank, universities in this category. Carnegie Mellon has been listed among the "Programs to Look For" in undergraduate research and creative projects since the listing started three years ago.

"I'm particularly pleased that Carnegie Mellon's creative efforts in undergraduate education and our vibrant undergraduate research program continue to be recognized as trendsetters," Cohon said.

Carnegie Mellon also ranked 34th in the nation in the category, "Great Schools, Great Prices."

The overall rankings were determined by several measures including peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, or spending per student, graduation rate performance, described as the difference between actual and predicted graduation rates, and alumni giving rates.

Harvard and Princeton were tied for the top spot for in the overall national university category.

For a complete look at the rankings, visit www.usnews.com.

Teresa Thomas