U.S. News and World report ranks Pitt No. 58 best college in country

Pitt earned the No. 58 spot in U.S. News & World Report’s Best National University…Pitt earned the No. 58 spot in U.S. News & World Report’s Best National University rankings for 2013.

Harvard and Princeton top the chart, each tied for the No. 1 spot of Best National University. Yale rounded out the top three, and fellow Pennsylvania colleges University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University and Penn State came in at No. 8, No. 23 and No. 46, respectively.

According to the website, the ranking is based on both quantitative and qualitative data.

“The formula uses quantitative measures that education experts have proposed as reliable indicators of academic quality, and it’s based on our researched view of what matters in education,” the site says.

According to the study’s data dating back to 2011, Pitt holds a 92 percent freshman retention rate and a 79 percent six-year graduation rate. Additionally, 40.3 percent of Pitt’s classes have fewer than 20 students in them, and only 20 percent have 50 or more students.

Pitt’s 2011 freshman acceptance rate was 57.9 percent, and the student-to-faculty ratio was 14:1. High school guidance counselers rated Pitt a 3.9 out of five on reputation.

Pitt scored a higher ranking than both Duquesne University, which came in at No. 120, and West Virginia University, which earned the No. 165 spot.

Robert Hill, a University spokesman, did not consider the report to be the best indicator of a college’s success.

“There are many ranking services, the U.S. News and World Report is but one. In the higher education community, it is generally regarded as an interesting gauge of institutional quality,” he said in an email. “But it isn’t the last word on institutional strength, by any means.”

This article has been edited to correct an innacuracy in the basis for a ranking. The Pitt News regrets the error.