This year, BYU received its highest overall ranking ever in U.S. News & World Report’sannual survey of America’s colleges. Of the 228 national universitieswhich includes schools that offer undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degreesBYU ranks 78th overall, up from 80th last year. The university’s accounting program was ranked sixth in the nation.
Survey rankings are based on each university’s scores in seven main areas: academic reputation, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance, and alumni giving rate.
High scores in retention and graduation rate performance contributed to BYU’s improved overall ranking. The current freshman retention rate is 89 percent, and the 1999 graduation rate is 72 percent.
The student selectivity score is based, in part, on the proportion of enrolled freshmen who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. Here BYU also places high, with 54 percent of freshmen in that category.