Atlanta — August 19, 2005

University System of Georgia (USG) institutions continue to shine in the 2006 edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine’s annual college rankings survey. The latest survey, published today, places Georgia as one of only four states with two or more institutions ranked among the top 20 public national universities. The other three states are California, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Georgia Institute of Technology ranks ninth on the list of the top 20 public institutions and the University of Georgia ranks 19th. For Georgia Tech, this is a jump up from its number 10 ranking last year. This is the sixth consecutive year Georgia has had two public institutions in the top 20 list.

The U.S. News report also gives high marks to a number of USG institutions in areas such as programs, schools, racial diversity and affordability.

“While such rankings are not the ultimate measure of quality, they do represent a good benchmark of where we stand among our national peers,” said University System Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith. “We continue to emphasize academic quality and broad access in all that we do and this focus is paying off for Georgians with institutions and programs of acknowledged excellence.”

The report also ranks Georgia Tech as having the nation’s sixth best undergraduate engineering program among all public and private institutions whose highest degree is a doctorate (and third best among solely public institutions). In terms of specialty engineering programs, Tech ranks first in industrial and manufacturing; second in aerospace, aeronautical and astronomical programs; third in civil engineering; fourth in biomedical engineering; and fifth in mechanical engineering.

In the area of business programs, Georgia State University, the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech all were cited in the latest U.S. News report. Georgia State’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business undergraduate risk management and insurance program is second in the nation; its real estate program eighth and its management information systems program 10th. UGA’s Terry College of Business received the third highest ranking for its insurance and real estate programs. Overall, UGA’s business program is ranked 19th among public institutions and Georgia Tech’s management program is ranked 21st.

UGA also received high marks in the report for its affordability. It ranked sixth nationally among public institutions in a section titled “Great Schools at Great Prices.”

The report ranks three USG institutions among the top public masters universities (institutions that have a full range of undergraduate and master’s programs, but few, if any, doctoral programs) in the south: Georgia College & State University is 15th, North Georgia College & State University is tied for 19th and Georgia Southern University is ranked 22nd.

Columbus State University and Clayton State University were cited in the report for their high degree of racial diversity.

For the fourth year, the U.S. News report lists institutions with “Programs to Look For.” In this category, which identifies outstanding examples of academic programs believed to lead to student success, Kennesaw State University was listed in 25 institutions cited for outstanding learning communities programs and mentioned for its first-year freshman experience efforts. Georgia Tech was cited for its internship and co-op programs, and Georgia State University for its learning communities programs.

« News Releases