KU improves to 59th among public schools in 2020 U.S. News rankings

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas increased its ranking two spots to 59th among public universities in the 2020 edition of the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” rankings, released Sept. 9.

“We recognize the importance of these rankings, and we always would prefer to go up,” said Chancellor Douglas A. Girod. “However, we remain focused on a broader set of metrics to measure our success, and we will be refining those further through a new strategic planning process that will be launching soon.”

KU has undertaken efforts to improve freshmen retention rates and six-year graduation rates, which are among the many metrics tracked by the magazine for its rankings. Both areas have seen improvement in recent years (PDF).

“The work done by our KU faculty and staff is ensuring more of our students remain on track to advance in their degree programs and ultimately graduate,” said Carl Lejuez, interim provost and executive vice chancellor. “When we can improve in those areas we know are important, success in rankings will typically follow.”

In other undergraduate rankings published Monday, the KU School of Business ranked in a tie for 41st, and the School of Engineering ranked in a tie for 49th, both among public schools.

KU also ranked 28th among public universities in the magazine’s Best Value category and 52nd among public schools for Best Colleges for Veterans.

The magazine releases graduate school rankings in the spring. This year, KU had 48 programs ranked in the top 50 among public universities.