Pitt moved six spots closer to becoming the nation’s best college this year.

U.S. News and… Pitt moved six spots closer to becoming the nation’s best college this year.

U.S. News and World report released its annual 2012 Best College rankings at midnight on Monday and put Pitt at the 58th spot, tied with University of Connecticut, University of Florida and Texas A&M-College Station. This is a bump up from Pitt’s ranking as 64th last year.

When it comes to Big East rivals, Pitt beat out West Virginia, Syracuse and Rutgers on the list, but Penn State trailed came out ahead at spot 45.

Carnegie Mellon University came in 23rd and Princeton and Harvard tied for

first place.  

David DeJong, vice provost for academic planning and resources management in the Office of the Provost, said that Pitt was happy with the ranking.

“We work very hard and invest a lot to achieve continued improvement in academic programs,” DeJong said. “So to see these efforts recognized through improved rankings, like the U.S. News and World Report, is very gratifying.”

According to the U.S. News and World Report website, the purpose of the yearly rankings is to serve as an “objective guide by which students and their parents can compare the academic quality of schools.”

The report’s objective rung true for freshman Galen Hughes, who said she used the report to narrow down her college choices.

“My decision came down to [Pitt] and Delaware, and this was ranked better,” she said.

To produce the rankings, the U.S. News puts the schools into categories based upon mission — whether its a research university or national liberal arts college — and location. Data is gathered from each school and sorted into 16 academic categories with a weight assigned to each category.

The category’s weight is based on things like retention and graduation of students, resources available to faculty, student selectivity, alumni donations and financial resources.

The ranking lists Pitt as having a 61 percent four-year graduation rate, which is considered high in the study. It also lists Pitt as having a 58 percent admission rate, which the study lists as “more selective”. Harvard, which came in first place, has an 87 percent four-year graduation rate and a 7 percent admission rate. Closer to Pitt’s numbers, Penn State has a 62 percent four-year graduation rate and a 55 percent admission rate.

“[Pitt] earns national accolades for its highly ranked School of Medicine, School of Education, and Swanson School of Engineering,” according to the website. It specifically mentioned that the National Institutes of Health gives Pitt’s School of Medicine one of the highest amounts of funding nationwide.

The rankings highlight Pitt’s emphasis on environmental awareness, the public transportation that Pitt students receive with their ID, the Office of

Experiential Learning and Pitt’s athletic teams and avid fans as other reasons for its ranking.

But some students don’t rely on the rankings too much.

Amy Hoolihan, a sophomore accounting and business major, said she was surprised by Penn State’s trumping of Pitt in the report.

“You’re not isolated like you would be in Penn State,” Hoolihan said about the urban campus at Pitt.

Freshman Simon Brown said he doesn’t think the rankings carry much weight.

“I think [the ranking] has some basis, but I don’t think their rankings should be taken too seriously,” Brown, a philosophy and history major, said.

He also said he has some idea on why Penn State may have won over Pitt.

“I think they’re two different universities. We have better graduate schools,” he said, noting that he thinks Penn State has better general education courses.

Aside from improvement in the overall ranking, Pitt moved from 23rd to 19th in the top public university rankings and 46th for “best value” school in the nation. The latter takes into account college’s academic quality based on the Best Colleges ranking and the 2010-2011 net cost of attendance for a student who gets the average level of need-based financial aid.

“The higher quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal,” the U.S. News website said.