The UA moved up to No. 45 among national public universities in the 2007 U.S. News and World Report list of top colleges and universities. The UA also took 96th place among national universities overall.

The rankings are based on factors including graduation rate, alumni donation rate, student retention, class size and student selectivity.

Provost Eugene Sander attributes the UA’s slight increases in both the public and national categories – from 46th and 98th last year, respectively – to increased enrollment and more overall diversity among the student body.

Maintaining the quality of education at the UA is “”a continual effort that takes really hard work that some people may not see,”” Sander said. “”From the student aspect, there is definitely an increase in the quality of incoming students.””

The rankings also placed the Eller College of Management 12th among undergraduate business programs at public universities. The

Eller College Management Information Systems program was ranked fourth among all universities. It is the 20th consecutive year that it has been ranked in the top five among all MIS programs, a feat only accomplished by the UA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University.

Paul Portney, the dean of Eller College, attributes the high rankings to the college and UA having done a better job of ensuring the quality of education among undergraduates.

“”We have a strong formula that contains programs designed to ensure that everyone is getting a fundamental core education,”” Portney said.

Portney went on to say that while he is proud of the high rankings, people should understand that rankings are just one of many things people should look at when discussing the UA.

“”Even though I’m sure there are a lot of reasons why students choose Arizona, we should always be looking to move forward in the rankings,”” Portney said. “”We should never just be satisfied.””

President Robert Shelton said the new rankings are not necessarily an accurate measure of the quality of the UA.

“”There

1. Merchant Marine Academy
2. Stevens Institute of Tech.
3. California Tech.
4. New Jersey Institute of Tech.
5. University of Hawaii at Manoa
6. Rensselaer Polytech.
7. University at Albany
8. Georgia Tech.
9. Illinois Institute of Tech.
10. University of Rhode Island

14. Arizona State University

20. University of Arizonaare all kinds of different rankings,”” he said. “”These are probably the least important and least revealing of the rankings.””

The U.S. News and World Report rankings are constructed in a way that turns the list into “”a beauty contest for well-to-do private schools,”” Shelton added. “”That being said, we are always pleased when our programs do well.””

In other rankings, the National Science Foundation ranked the UA first in physical science expenditures among American universities, taking the top spot from Johns Hopkins University. The UA also moved up one slot to 13th among public research universities.

Provost defends UA’s place on ‘worst’ list

The Princeton Review ended with the UA on a list that determined the 20 schools with the worst professors, in its rankings released for 2008.

Provost Eugene Sander said he believes the rankings are flawed, adding that the UA has its own reliable way to score its professors’ performance.

The student evaluations are very thorough, he said.

“”If a professor is having a problem, we will work with them to fix it,”” Sander said.

Professors’ scores are summarized and become part of the faculty dossier, he said. If professors continue to receive low scores, it could prevent them from achieving tenure.