College rankings – Florida Atlantic University (FAU) — Courtesy: Image by Jillian Cain Photography from Shutterstock
The three largest institutions in South Florida saw significant gains this year in U.S. News & World Report’s yearly rankings of the nation’s top national universities.
While Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University shot up to 20 or more slots apiece to 98th and 189th place, respectively, the University of Miami climbed four spots to 63rd place in the country.
The University of Florida and Florida State University, which were previously regarded as the top two universities in Florida, saw a minor decline in their rankings, which were made public on Tuesday. FSU lost one rank to 54th, while UF dropped two spots to 30th.
The university has the highest ranking? This year it’s Princeton University, just like last year.
It was Boca Raton’s FAU’s second consecutive year of significant progress; the previous year, it leaped up 53 spots.
The most prestigious universities in South Florida made gains in the rankings’ second year after U.S. News changed its methodology to place greater focus on institutions’ capacity to provide “social mobility and outcomes for graduating college students.”
The magazine noted in a statement that “outcome measures related to an institution’s success at enrolling and graduating students from different backgrounds with manageable debt and postgraduation success again make up more than half of a school’s rank.”
This year, FIU not only made it into the top 100 national universities, but it also won the title of best school for social mobility in the country from U.S. News.
According to the magazine, schools that are “more successful than others at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants” are identified through the social mobility distinction.
Florida’s best universities nationally, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report:
The following list of 13 Florida universities that cracked the top 300 is accompanied by the percentage change in their rating:
30. University of Florida (tied), -254. Florida State University (tied), -163. University of Miami (tied), +491. University of South Florida (tied), -298. Florida International University (tied), +26121. University of Central Florida (tied), +3152. Florida A&M University (tied), +18189. Florida Atlantic University (tied), +20231. Florida Institute of Technology (tied), +38231. Nova Southeastern University (tied), -4231. University of North Florida (tied), +5288. Keiser University (tied), -39296. Florida Gulf Coast University (tied), +8
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.