Rose-Hulman Retains #1 Ranking in U.S. News & World Report

For the second consecutive year, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the best undergraduate engineering program among colleges where the highest degree awarded is a bachelor's or master's.

Repeat Performance: Rose-Hulman employees Gerald Hartsock and David "Scotty" Roy update the ranking banner that hangs from Hadley Hall at the front of campus.

Four engineering departments at Rose-Hulman were also rated No. 1 in the same category that ranked the college as the best. Receiving the top honors were chemical, civil, electrical and mechanical engineering. Rose-Hulman was tied for first in computer engineering with Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. The computer engineering program at Rose-Hulman is combined with electrical engineering into one department.

This was the first year the departmental rankings were conducted in Rose-Hulman's category of the magazine's annual rankings.

The No. 1 ratings for Rose-Hulman and five of its academic departments are based on responses from engineering deans and senior faculty who completed the magazine's national reputational survey. "To be ranked again by education officials as the nation's best is recognition we appreciate and enjoy," said Rose-Hulman President Samuel Hulbert. "The top rankings for our academic departments reflects the reputation we've earned for the quality of our faculty and the successes of our alumni," he stated.

Harvey Mudd College of California was ranked second, followed by Cooper Union in New York City. The position of the top three colleges remained the same as last year's rankings. Rose-Hulman also ranked ahead of the military academies, Bucknell, Villanova, and Bradley universities as well as Swarthmore and Lafayette colleges.

The rankings have a positive impact on Rose-Hulman's national student recruitment efforts, says Chuck Howard, dean of admissions at Rose-Hulman. "The recognition from our colleagues confirms to prospective students and their families that Rose-Hulman is a quality institution," Howard said.

The rankings are published in the Sept. 11 issue of U.S. News and World Report and in the magazine's America's Best Colleges 2001 guidebook, which will be available at newsstands Sept. 4. The U.S. News survey asked higher-education officials to rate the academic quality of peer institutions in their disciplines. Respondents rated each school on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). Rose-Hulman earned a 4.4 rating.

Link U.S. News & World Report Rankings