Miami 3rd nationwide in its commitment to teaching, says U.S. News & World Report

Miami University is ranked third among national universities for its commitment to teaching in the just-released U.S. News & World Report 2012 edition of America’s Best Colleges. Only 12 national universities are cited for such faculty commitment, the results of a peer assessment survey by university officials at the national universities included in the magazine.

“It is very meaningful to be ranked third in the nation for having ‘an unusually strong commitment to teaching.’ Our focus is on student success, and it comes from the deep commitment of our faculty and staff to creating a very high quality, high impact academic environment that produces graduates of uncommon quality,” said Miami President David Hodge.

In addition, Miami University ranked 40th among top public national universities in the country and 90th among all 202 national universities (public and private) in the list.
The magazine uses a variety of factors in creating the rankings including, in descending order of value, undergraduate academic reputation, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving rate.

“Research shows that the more satisfied students are about their contact with professors, the more they will learn and the more likely it is they will graduate,” said the editors.

Miami again is featured in the magazine’s “A Focus on Student Success” section, described as “outstanding examples” of academic programs that are commonly linked to student success. These are also culled from a survey of university presidents, chief academic officers and deans of admissions. Miami is cited in three areas:

• “Learning Communities” in which students typically take two or more linked courses as a group and get to know one another and their professors well;
  
  
• “Writing in the Disciplines,” making writing a priority at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum. Through the Howe Center for Writing Excellence, Miami students have unique access to writing support and resources; and
  
  
• “Senior Capstone” experiences, culminating experiences ask students nearing the end of their college years to create a project that integrates and synthesizes what they've learned.

Miami is tied at 21st in the category of Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs where the highest degree is a bachelor's or master’s.

Miami University’s commitment to developing students as future leaders includes providing more than 2,000 undergraduates each year the opportunity to work with professors on funded research and having 44 percent of all students study abroad. Median time to a degree is 3.7 years.

The 2012 Best Colleges guidebook will be on newsstands Sept. 20.