Iowa State University has been ranked 47th in U.S. News & World Report’s top 50 public universities. The report is part of the 2014 “America’s Best Colleges” rankings.

Iowa State is in a six-way tie for 47th place in the rankings. The rankings take into account the 173 best public universities in the nation. Iowa State is also ranked 101st overall in the “Best National Universities” category. This category includes 281 American universities with a variety of undergraduate majors.

Established data is key to forming the rankings said John McCarroll, executive director of university relations.

Enrollment numbers and tuition costs are two sets of data that are looked at through national databases.

“Some of the categories they get into are based on surveys and talking to people,” McCarroll said. “Essentially there are 281 total universities and out of that, 173 are public universities like Iowa State.”

Iowa State receives numerous notifications about rankings involving the university weekly from different sources. The summer, in particular, is a time for the majority of rankings, McCarroll said. 

“This [U.S. News & World Report] is probably one of the best known rankings,” McCarroll said.

This rankings are done in early fall and is based on the undergraduate information about the university. The graduate and professional school rankings are published at the end of March.

Iowa State has been a mainstay in the annual rankings.

“We have generally been in the top 25 to 26 percent of the public’s [universities],” McCarroll said. 

In 2012, Iowa State was ranked No. 46.

In the last decade, Iowa State has been consistently ranked for their graduation and retention rates. McCarroll said that this past year was Iowa State’s best score in those two categories.

Programs at Iowa State were also ranked individually. The agricultural and biosystems engineering program is ranked fourth among all national universities and fourth among public universities.

The materials engineering program is ranked ninth among public universities and 15th among all national universities.

The College of Engineering is ranked 35th in an eight-way tie with Brown University, Providence, Case Western Reserve University, Lehigh University, University of California, University of Florida, University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University.

The College of Business is ranked 59th among public institutions and 101st overall among the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

McCarroll said the report’s overall rankings sometimes do not take into consideration the programs that are integral to Iowa State and the land grant mission. Veterinary Medicine is included in graduate and professional ranking, but not in the university’s current 47th ranking.

Also, many of the programs are not included, such as agriculture and life sciences.

“Agronomy, which we are extremely strong and very highly thought of, in is not taken into consideration,” McCarroll said. 

The College of Design is not included in the ranking either.

McCarroll said that not including certain programs is not a criticism to the programs or the university, but the rankings have specific guidelines they must follow.

Pamela Anthony, dean of students, said it is exciting to have Iowa State ranked in such a well-known publication.

U.S. News & World Report rankings are good for incoming and potential students to look at and to be aware of, Anthony said. 

“We have more students from Iowa at our institution, and that says that we [Iowa State] are the first choice institution,” Anthony said. 

Anthony credits the rankings to the university’s experience and academics.