Hopkins maintained its standing as the 13th best university in the nation in the annually updated U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, which were released yesterday at midnight.
U.S. News based these rankings on factors such as freshman retention, graduation rates and the strength of the faculty at each university which they deem to determine its quality and selectivity.
Last year, Hopkins broke away from its tie for the 13th position with Washington University in St. Louis as it fell to 14th.
“Johns Hopkins is very proud of the program we provide for our undergraduates and pleased when these qualities are recognized by others,” Katherine S. Newman, James B. Knapp Dean of the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter. “The faculty, administration, and students are engaged in a constant effort to improve the educational experience. In a country with hundreds of admirable institutions of higher learning, of course we are proud to be recognized. But even if there was no such thing as U.S. News, we would be devoting a lot of time and resources to making our undergraduate program stronger.”
Students responded to the ranking with both disappointment and pride.
“I was definitely hoping we would get closer to the top ten, but I’m still glad we are beating Ivy League schools like Cornell and Brown,” sophomore Sean Donohue said.
“I thought maybe we would move up because of our new buildings, but 13 is still an awesome number,” sophomore Sam Romanoff said.
Newman, however, stressed that she looks beyond the rankings, impressive as she may find them.
“What I look for more than the annual edition of this magazine is the delight on the faces of my students when they see new places like the Brody Learning Commons, or when they leave my home (as they did on Monday night), having heard a fantastic lecture from Professor Hattar about his research on the role of photoreceptor cells in regulating the sleep cycle,” she wrote. “That’s all the ranking I need.”
