COLUMBUS-–The Ohio State University continues to maintain its place among the nation’s top 25 public universities. The university is tied for 21 in the U.S. News and World Report special edition on America’s Best Colleges. The magazine also ranks Ohio State’s academic reputation the highest among Ohio institutions.

The ranking places Ohio State at the top of Ohio’s public universities. The only other Ohio public university included in the prestigious listing is Miami University, in an 8-way tie for 28. Absent this year from the list was Ohio University, which ranked 44 last year.

“Ohio State’s ability to maintain our position among national public universities is great news,” said university president William Kirwan. “The competition to move up is fierce and with the exception of one school, no rankings changed substantially this year. But we will continue our push to improve in the rankings by enhancing the quality of our faculty and student body.”

The only school to move ahead of Ohio State in the U.S. News rankings is the University of Georgia, which went from a tie for 20 to number 18. Unlike Ohio, the state of Georgia has demonstrated a strong commitment to funding higher education. And financial resources play a large part in the magazine’s analysis of academic quality.

Eight other Big Ten schools are on the list of top public institutions: Michigan (3), Wisconsin (8), Illinois (9), Penn State (14), Minnesota (19), Purdue (tied with Ohio State at 21), Iowa (24), Indiana and Michigan State (part of an 8-way tie at 28).

To reach its conclusions, institutions are compared in categories that include academic reputation, freshmen retention, faculty resources, graduation rates, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

The guide’s analysis of Ohio State, which is based on statistics from 2000, noted improvement in several categories over the previous year. Freshmen retention increased from 81 percent to 82 percent; the percent of small classes increased from 43 percent to 45 percent; the acceptance rate fell from 74 percent to 72 percent, the average ACT score of incoming freshmen increased from 24.7 to 24.9, and the number of incoming freshmen in the top 10% of their high school class increased from 29 percent to 32 percent.

The university’s focus on improving academic quality, which is being seen in the incoming freshman class, will be reflected in U.S. News’ 2002 guide to colleges.

For the sixth consecutive year, the university is preparing to welcome its best-prepared freshman class ever. The class of 2005 ranks higher in terms of high school performance, test scores and other indicators of academic quality.

Among the highlights are a greater percentage of incoming freshmen who are National Merit Scholars; more who were class valedictorians, more in the top 10 percent of their high school class and a higher than-ever average ACT score.

The U.S. News rankings of undergraduate programs cover only a small portion of the programs offered at Ohio State. In addition to overall institutional rankings, the magazine also annually ranks undergraduate programs in business and engineering. However, the magazine reprints earlier years’ ratings that note previous high marks to Ohio State programs.

The magazine also provides annual rankings for undergraduate business and engineering programs. Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business was rated 16th best in the nation, with the program in Supply Chain Management/Logistics rated fourth best. In addition, several programs ranked in the top 20: Accounting (15), Finance (12), Management (14), Marketing (17), and Production/Operations Management (8).

Joseph A. Alutto, Fisher College dean, said, “Our continued presence in the top 20 of this national ranking is a testament to the quality and dedication of our faculty and the academic quality of our students. Such rankings reflect the value of a professional teaching environment that encourages research and provides relevant, innovative courses as well as international study, internships and other opportunities that enhance the academic experience. We are also pleased that the strength of our specialty programs have been recognized.”

Among schools whose highest degree is a Ph.D., undergraduate programs in Ohio State’s College of Engineering are ranked 24th best in the nation. U.S. News also ranks three other programs: Industrial/Manufacturing (11), Materials Science and Engineering (12), and Mechanical Engineering (15).

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