A national education report puts the University of Wisconsin high in the ranks of public universities across the country – confirming what most Badgers already know.
Up two spots in U.S. News and World Report rankings for top public universities compared to last year, UW now ranks 11th in the world.
UW shares the spot with University of California-Davis and University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign.
The Wisconsin School of Business ranked 15th and the College of Engineering ranked 16th, according to the list.
“We only put so much stock in rankings,” Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Sarah Mangelsdorf said. “But we do believe this is a great university, and it is a great university.”
Though U.S. News’s criteria in ranking national universities emphasizes overall resources, which results in private schools looking better, Mangelsdorf said. UW cuts the gap and performs extremely well with the resources they have, he added.
But despite not placing all stock in rankings, Mangelsdorf said these rankings are still very important.
“They’re important because people look at them,” Mangelsdorf said. “Prospective students and their parents look at these rankings.”
Mangelsdorf said this way of using rankings is something that is beneficial to the university because it illustrates a good reputation.
“Your reputation is what helps you recruit the best students, and faculty and I think consistently being ranked high helps us do so across all disciplines,” Mangelsdorf said.
