Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, 858 534-7404  

UCSD RANKED SEVENTH NATIONALLY IN U.S.NEWS SURVEY

The University of California, San Diego ranked as the seventh best public university in the nation in the annual America’s Best Colleges survey issued today by U.S. News and World Report.

The guide rated 1,400 four-year schools, designating the nation’s top 50 national universities, and 50 best public national universities.

Of the top 50 public universities, at seventh place 40-year-old UCSD outranked much older institutions such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Washington and the University of Texas-Austin.

Among the nation’s top national universities, both public and private, UCSD ranked 31st. As defined by U.S. News, “the 249 national universities offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and Ph.D. degrees, and emphasize faculty research.” The nation’s top three universities, as defined by U.S. News, are Princeton, Harvard and Yale.

UCSD also was listed among schools whose doctoral students accumulate the least amount of debt in loans.

U.S. News bases its national rankings on academic reputation, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving rate.

The 2002 rankings are available on the U.S. News Web site (www.usnews.com) Sept. 6; the U.S. News magazine will be available on newsstands Sept. 10.