Arizona State University has retained its title as the most innovative school in the nation as determined by U.S. News & World Report in its latest Best Colleges rankings.
Meanwhile, the University of Arizona has grabbed a higher spot than ASU in the latest overall university rankings.
UArizona came in at No. 105 out of 443 national universities, and ASU placed No. 121. National universities are those that offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and doctoral programs, and also are committed to producing groundbreaking research, U.S. News said.
Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff also made the national list, coming in at No. 317.
Separately, several programs from ASU and UArizona were among the highest-ranking in their categories.
ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business ranked No. 23 in the country for undergraduate business programs, and UArizona’s business school, the Eller College of Management landed at No. 30 on the same list.
ASU officials highlighted the significance of the innovation honor, calling its preeminence in the category “unchallenged” since it has led the pack — which includes some prestigious competition — since the category’s inception. This is the eighth year in a row ASU has ranked first in that category.
“For two decades, Arizona State University has been designing, building and reinventing itself as a leader in innovation,” ASU President Michael Crow said in a statement. “We have tested and implemented new ways to teach, learn, discover and serve at all levels of the institution — all with the goal of demonstrating our commitment to excellence, access and impact — and I am deeply thankful to all who have contributed to our evolution.”
The innovation recognition starts with nominations from presidents, provosts and admissions deans from schools across the country, and schools are chosen based on who is determined to be making the most innovative improvements toward curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology and facilities.
ASU pointed to recent initiatives to address academic inequities, to reinvent online education for students in the sciences, and to draw high-wage jobs to Arizona, as well as earlier efforts to introduce immersive virtual reality-based curriculum, achieve carbon neutrality and contribute to urban revitalization.
“By keeping innovation at the forefront of everything we do, we continue to change the way the world solves problems,” Sally Morton, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise, said in a statement. “ASU is breaking the mold for what is possible in our collective future by pioneering solutions that positively impact our students, our university, our communities and the world in far-reaching ways.”
ASU had top 20 rankings in the following programs:
UArizona had top 20 rankings in these programs:
“I am very proud that the University of Arizona has once again received recognition as one of the nation’s top public universities,” said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins in a statement. “We are an institution that serves a robust and diverse student body made up of students who study alongside many of the world’s preeminent scholars. This ranking is an outstanding reflection of our commitment to our students.”
Just outside the top 20, the W. P. Carey school’s No. 23 ranking was the same as last year. In all, U.S. News put 31 Carey undergraduate programs and disciplines in the top 25, the most of any national business school.
In March, U.S. News’ ranking of graduate schools put Carey’s full-time MBA program in the top 30 as well, with its executive MBA program ranking No 13 and its part-time MBA program coming in at No. 18.
Carey’s new dean, Ohad Kadan, said the recognition is a testament to what sets the school apart.
“The new U.S. News rankings demonstrate that W. P. Carey delivers something unique in business education,” Ohad Kadan, Charles J. Robel Dean and W. P. Carey Distinguished Chair, said in a statement. “As the largest business school in the country, we provide expansive access for students across Arizona, the United States, and the world — all while delivering truly excellent education.”
Look for an exclusive profile of Kadan in the Sept. 16 weekly print edition of the Business Journal.
U.S. News bases its rankings on several measures of academic quality, including graduation and retention rates, assessment by peers and counselors, faculty resources (such as class size, benefits and salaries), student selectivity, financial resources for students, alumni giving, and graduation rate performance, which is the difference between actual and predicted graduation rates.
Some other notable honors for ASU and UArizona in the rankings are the following:
Inno Under 25 is a recognition of the top founders, entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders under 25 in Arizona.
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