According to a University of Florida news release on Monday, the 2023 Best Colleges rankings released by U.S. News & World Report has listed the University of Florida as one of the top five public research universities in the nation. This title has been awarded to the University of Florida for the second year in a row.
UF’s No. 5 ranking has marked a climb of nine spots on the list of public universities since 2017.
The No. 5 recognition reaffirms UF’s status as an academic powerhouse in research, innovation, educational excellence, student outcomes and technology transfer. It acknowledges the university’s positive impact on student’s lives and on the economic vitality of the state, the nation and the world.
UF’s reputation score of 3.8 remained unchanged from last year. In addition, UF’s alumni annual giving rate climbed from 14% last year to 19% this year.
This is a banner year for UF in academic and research achievements. The university announced in July it reached $1 billion in annual research spending, a milestone that places UF among a preeminent group of about 15 public research universities nationwide. In May, Heartland Forward ranked UF No. 1 among public universities in moving research innovations from the lab to the marketplace; its analysis included invention disclosures, licensing income and startups formed and relative number of STEM graduates. And in January, U.S. News & World Report ranked UF No. 1 for online bachelor’s degrees.
UF added more than 600 full-time faculty over the past three years — the most aggressive hiring plan in the nation, which brought preeminent faculty scholars to campus and ensures students have access to top-quality instructors in smaller classes.
UF’s student/faculty ratio is now 17-to-1 and more than half of undergraduate classes have fewer than 20 students.
In another strategic move, UF is building an “AI Across the Curriculum” model so that every student, regardless of discipline, has at least a basic familiarity with how artificial intelligence will meet societal needs ranging from health care to education and national security.
This year, UF also enhanced its statewide presence with the integration of Scripps Research Institute, now known as UF Scripps Biomedical Research, in Jupiter. This creates a research powerhouse that will accelerate biomedical discoveries.
Additionally, UF is recognized as a top performer on student outcomes — ranked No. 4 in the nation for all universities, tied with UC Berkeley, UCLA and MIT; the overall six-year graduation rates of 91% and 89% for Pell grant recipients are both among the highest in the country.
The broad array of opportunities at UF were among the reasons Jelianys Ramos Burgos, a first-year student from West Palm Beach and native of Puerto Rico, was drawn to Gainesville. She first learned about UF while watching the Gator’s softball team on TV as they competed in the 2014 Women’s College World Series. Ramos, who plans to pursue a career in sports medicine, was impressed by the supportive interaction of the families, players and staff.
“I love the atmosphere here and that there is a community for everybody,” said Burgos, a Bright Futures and Excellence Grant scholarship recipient. “I felt UF could help me achieve my goals by preparing me with everything I need before I get to that point, especially with internships, volunteer opportunities and exposing me to the profession before I am in it. It’s awesome that the education here is top tier in the nation, which I think does attract different students since its quality is known through the country.”