Chancellor Doug Kristensen
308.865.8208
For the second year in a row, the University of Nebraska at Kearney has been ranked a Top 10 Public Midwest Regional University by “U.S. News & World Report.”
The ranking was released earlier this morning by the magazine.
“We are pleased to once again be ranked in the Top 10,” said Chancellor Doug Kristensen. “Students recognize the value of a UNK education, and indeed, our reputation for quality is recognized across the state of Nebraska and beyond. This speaks to the continuing hard work and attention to detail for which our faculty and staff are noted.”
The ranking is based on 11 indicators of academic quality. Of the 11, UNK went up in five categories, held steady in five and dropped one percentage point in one. Increases were seen in the freshman retention rate, graduation rate, percent of classes under 20 students, acceptance rate and in alumni giving.
“To be in the Top 10 reflects very positively on the Kearney community as well as the campus,” said Charles Bicak, senior vice chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs. “The U.S. News & World Report ranking system is widely recognized as an indicator of university quality. This is a wonderful validation of the teamwork that makes a campus and a community highly successful.”
The university held steady in peer assessment, the percent of classes over 50 (5 percent), student/faculty ratio (16/1), SAT/ACT percentile (20-25) and the number of freshmen who were in the top 25 percent of their high school class (42 percent).
UNK remains the only Nebraska university on the Top 10 list of Public Midwest Regional Universities, holding a rank of nine for the second consecutive year. In the longer list that includes 142 public and private universities in a 12-state Midwest region, UNK moved from 43 to 44. Of the 12 states in the region, only Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin had universities ranked among the Top 10 Public Midwest Regional Universities.
U.S. News showed considerable movement of campuses within categories, based on a new Carnegie Classification system. The magazine’s editors said, “The category changes were the main explanation for the biggest movements in this year’s rankings.”
Top 10 Public Regional Universities in the Midwest
1. Truman State University (MO)
2. University of Northern Iowa
2. Univ. of Wisconsin–La Crosse
4. Univ. of Illinois–Springfield
5. Univ. of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
6. Univ. of Michigan–Dearborn
7. University of Minnesota–Duluth
8. Grand Valley State Univ. (MI)
9. Univ. of Nebraska–Kearney
10. U. of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
