Rowan again makes U.S. News & World Report's top tier

For the 12th consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Rowan University among the best institutions of higher learning in the nation.

In its annual “Best Colleges” 2012 edition, U.S. News ranked Rowan in the top tier of the Best Regional Universities (North region) category. Rowan is ranked 21st (tied) in the category, up from 23rd (tied) last year. The category includes universities that provide comprehensive undergraduate and master’s programs.

Rowan tied for third place among Top Public Regional Universities in the north, a position it has held for the past two years as well.

Rowan’s College of Engineering was ranked 16th (tied), up from 21st (tied) last year, among all colleges and universities whose engineering programs offer a bachelor’s or master’s degree as their highest degree. Rowan Engineering ranked seventh in the nation in that category among public schools. The chemical engineering program was ranked third (tied), and was the top public school program in the country. Mechanical engineering was listed at eighth.

The 2012 edition of the Best Colleges guidebook can be found online at USNews.com and will hit newsstands on Sept. 20.

“While the U.S. News & World Report rankings are just one means by which students and parents should evaluate which institution is best for them, it is, of course, gratifying to see that Rowan remains consistently in the top tier for this part of our country,” said Dr. Ali Houshmand, interim president. “We are in a highly educated region with many excellent schools. I am pleased we are counted among them.”

“I expect over the next few years our rankings will become even better,” added Houshmand, who noted Rowan is one of just 56 institutions in the country with accreditation in business, education, engineering and medicine.
 
Institutional rankings are based on measures of quality that include peer assessments, graduation and retention rates, class sizes, student-to-faculty ratio, SAT scores, freshman high school class rank, alumni giving and other categories.

The engineering rankings are of ABET (formerly known as Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology)-accredited programs and based solely on a peer survey of deans and senior faculty, according to U.S. News.

More than 11,000 students are enrolled in bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs at Rowan, which is based in Glassboro and has a Camden branch. Rowan offers 80 undergraduate majors, including three accelerated bachelor's to master's programs, 55 majors leading to master's degrees; seven professional certification programs; 26 graduate certification of graduate study programs; six teacher certification programs; and a doctoral program in educational leadership.



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