By: Tiffany Acosta, 575-646-3929, tfrank@nmsu.edu

New Mexico State University has been recognized as a top tier university for the fifth time in the last six years according to the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges for 2018 National Universities rankings.

U.S. News & World Report has ranked New Mexico State University as one of the top tier universities for 2018. (NMSU photo by Karrie Lucero) “NMSU has been known as a top tier university for several years now,” said NMSU Chancellor Garrey Carruthers. “We are very proud of that status and find it to be one of our primary attractions for our new and transfer students. Being top tier is the highest vote of confidence a university can get for its students, faculty and staff.”

NMSU improved more than 20 spots and is tied for 198 this year with North Dakota State University, Nova Southeastern University (Florida) and University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Additionally, NMSU recorded a better ranking than peer institutions such as the University of Nevada-Reno (tied at 202), Montana State University (tied at 207), Utah State University (tied at 216) and UTEP (rank not published).

The U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings are based on seven factors: assessment of excellence (22.5 percent), graduation and retention rates (22.5 percent), faculty resources (20 percent), student selectivity (12.5 percent), financial resources (10 percent), graduation rate performance (7.5 percent) and alumni giving (5 percent).

Recently, NMSU ranked first in the country for federal obligations for science and engineering activities for minority-serving institutions according to a report from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.

A Brookings Institution report also listed NMSU as a leader in equal access to higher education giving NMSU the second-highest score in the nation as a public university that provides opportunities for social mobility to students and produces valuable research.