NEWS

Louisiana Tech earns Tier One national ranking from U.S. News & World Report

Sep 9, 2015 | General News

— No. 1 in nation among public National Universities for least amount of debt for graduates —
For the fifth consecutive year, Louisiana Tech University has earned a Tier One ranking among “National Universities,” according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2016 Best Colleges list released Wednesday.
_DJC1005Louisiana Tech, along with Tulane University and Louisiana State University, were the only institutions in the state to achieve a Tier One National Universities designation. Louisiana Tech improved its ranking over last year, moving up from 201 to 199 on the 2016 US News & World Report list. Princeton University was No. 1 on the National Universities list followed by Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, Stanford University and University of Chicago.
In addition to earning a spot on the Tier One National Universities list, Louisiana Tech was ranked No. 1 in the nation among public National Universities and No. 6 overall for graduating students with the least average amount of debt. Princeton University topped the least average debt list followed by the California Institute of Technology, Brigham Young University, Yale University, Harvard University, Louisiana Tech, Dartmouth College and the University of California-Berkley.
“The Tier One National University ranking from U.S. News & World Report is something we are very proud of and is clear evidence of the commitment shown by our faculty and staff to serving our students and strengthening our institution,” said Louisiana Tech President Les Guice. “I am equally proud that we are helping our students graduate from Louisiana Tech with a lower average amount of debt than graduates from any other public institution in the United States, classified as a National University.
“I thank our entire campus community for their dedication and support in providing our students with unparalleled learning opportunities and educational experiences, and congratulate them on this achievement.”
Louisiana Tech also earned a spot among the nation’s Top 120 Public Universities as well as earning a spot in the Top 125 of the national rankings for its undergraduate engineering programs. The undergraduate business programs at Louisiana Tech were also nationally ranked.
The U.S. News and World Report rankings are based on several key measures of quality, including assessment of excellence as defined by feedback from academic peers and high school guidance counselors, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance which is defined by the difference between actual and predicted graduation rates, and alumni giving. Scores for each measure are weighted to determine a final overall score.
U.S. News & World Report assessed nearly 1,600 four-year colleges and universities across the country and has classified a total of 280 institutions as “National Universities,” 173 of which are public. Based on categories developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, “National Universities” include institutions that offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and Ph.D. programs, and emphasize faculty research. The Carnegie classification has served as the basis for the Best Colleges ranking category system since the first rankings were done in 1983.
In addition to its U.S. News & World Report rankings, Louisiana Tech was recently ranked No. 1 in the State of Louisiana for highest average mid-career earnings for graduates, according to PayScale.com’s 2015-2016 College Salary Report. Tech was also ranked among the top universities in the nation in Forbes’ list of America’s Top Colleges 2015, and in the top 2.6 percent of the world’s degree-granting institutions by the Center for World University Rankings.