Florida State University remained in the same position as last year in U.S. News & World Report’s latest “Best Colleges for 2024-2025” rankings.
FSU remains ranked 23rd in the annual national report, but is tied with the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and the College of William & Mary, creating a sense of deja vu as those three schools shared the same spot in the top 25 last year.
“We’ve made dramatic progress as a university, but the data used for some of these rankings lags behind what’s actually happening at the university,” Florida State University President Richard McCullough said in an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat.
Last year, the university dropped four spots to 23rd place from 19th place for 2022, dropping out of the top 20 in its quest to be one of the top 15 public universities in the country.
The decline is the result of a change in the media company’s methodology, even though FSU improved in each of the report’s measured categories. The restructuring decision altered 22 indicators, removing factors such as class size, alumni giving rate, percentage of faculty with terminal degrees and students still enrolled in high school — all factors in which FSU had previously scored highly.
FSU rankings 2023: FSU drops to 23rd in U.S. News rankings. Chancellor says it’s “weird.” Here’s why.
The Wall Street Journal and Niche also publish their own rankings, with wildly different results. The day before the U.S. News rankings were released, FSU touted its 10th place ranking in Niche’s national public university rankings, moving the university up one spot from last year and also FSU’s highest ranking in the category.
“The rankings are interesting,” McCullough said, comparing U.S. News & World Report to Niche and other publications that rank FSU.
“I think we’ll stay where we are, but if we continue to improve, I expect we’ll move up in the next few years,” McCullough said of the U.S. News rankings. “Maybe they’ll change the metrics again. That would be incredible.”
Among public universities, the University of California, Los Angeles came in first, followed by the University of California, Berkeley. The two schools tied for first place last year, but the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, remained in third place this year.
The University of Florida, ranked sixth last year, dropped one spot to seventh on this year’s list, tying with the University of Texas at Austin.
Among the Florida universities that saw significant improvements in the rankings are Florida International University, which jumped 18 places from last year’s 64th to 46th, Florida A&M University, which rose 10 places to 81st, and Florida Atlantic University, which rose nine places to 103rd, moving closer to the top 100.
Other FSU rankings from U.S. News reports
While FSU remained in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of public universities, it did move up in several other categories listed in the report.
In the publication’s category of first-year experience (as it relates to retention rates), FSU ranked seventh among public institutions and first in the state of Florida, as its freshman retention rate now stands at 96 percent and its four-year graduation rate is at a record high of 76 percent.
The university also rose two spots to 35th among public universities in the U.S. News rankings for social mobility, which evaluates how well a school graduates economically disadvantaged students. FSU’s six-year graduation rate for its most recent Pell Grant recipients was 83 percent, while the university’s overall student graduation rate is 86 percent.
“Florida State University faculty and staff are committed to student success,” Jim Clark, dean and vice president for academic affairs, said in a prepared statement. “Students excel during their time at Florida State University because we have a team at the university that supports their hard work as they build a path to four-year graduation and successful careers.”
One of the university’s main highlights in the report’s additional rankings category was its undergraduate nursing program, which jumped 39 spots among public universities, from 72nd to 33rd. Undergraduate nursing enrollment has increased fourfold in the past two years, according to the university.
“Our nursing faculty is amazing,” McCullough said. “They’re doing really well. The dean (Jing Wang) is a great person and does an incredible job.”
“For the students who come here, we do everything we can to make sure they’re successful and continue to work hard for that.”
Florida University Rankings
Here is Florida State University System’s ranking in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges 2024-2025” public university rankings:
7. University of Florida 23. Florida State University 45. University of South Florida 46. Florida International University 61. University of Central Florida 81. Florida A&M University 103. Florida Atlantic University 126. University of North Florida 161. Florida Gulf Coast University (unranked) Florida Institute of Technology
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her at X: @tarahjean_
