CONTACT: Carolyn Gonzales, 277-5920

Sept. 19, 2002 UNM ENGINEERING RANKED AMONG BEST BY U.S. NEWS U.S. News and World Report ranks the University of New Mexico's engineering program among the best programs at schools where the highest degree offered is a doctorate. "I am delighted to see that our School of Engineering made the list of best undergraduate programs at schools that also offer doctoral degrees in engineering," said UNM President F. Chris Garcia. "We are very pleased to have our strong commitment to undergraduate engineering education recognized by being included among U.S. News' 'best undergraduate engineering programs,'" added UNM School of Engineering Dean Joseph Cecchi. UNM remains a Tier III school (out of four tiers). However, the magazine also rates UNM 2.9 on a 5 point scale in the area of peer assessment. "A 2.9 rating places UNM among the top 10 schools in Tier III on this measure and higher than about a third of the schools in Tier II," said Mark Chisholm, director of UNM's Office of Institutional Research. U.S. News ranking relies on quantitative measures education experts propose as reliable indicators of academic quality. Schools are categorized by mission and, in some cases, by region. The rankings are based on a nonpartisan view of what matters in education. Academic quality indicators include factors such as assessment by administrators at peer institutions, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. Those indicators include input measures that reflect a school's student body, its faculty and financial resources - measures that indicate how well the institution is doing in educating its student body. # # #

The University of New Mexico
Public Affairs Department
Hodgin Hall, 2nd floor
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-5813
Fax: (505) 277-1981