FSU shatters Top 25, lands No. 18 spot in U.S. News and World Report 2020 college rankings

Byron Dobson
Tallahassee Democrat

Florida State University has eclipsed its goal of becoming one of the country’s coveted Top 25 public institutions, landing No. 18 in U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Colleges 2020” guidebook.

The much-anticipated rankings were released at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

Last year, FSU moved up seven spots to No. 26. This year’s jump is the greatest single-year increase in university history.

The No. 18 post means FSU has climbed 25 spots under the leadership of FSU President John Thrasher and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Sally McRorie, since placing No. 43 in 2016.

Ironically, FSU shares the No. 18 public college ranking with Penn State – headed by Thrasher’s predecessor, Eric Barron – and Purdue University-West Lafayette and the University of Pittsburgh.

Since 2014, no other institution ranked in the Top 50 has jumped more spots than Florida State.

The U.S. News ranking also places FSU 57th among all national universities, public and private. That’s an increase from 70th last year.

FSU ties at 57th with the University of Miami, a private institution; Penn State, Purdue and the University of Pittsburgh.

Thrasher: 'Blown away'

Thrasher said he was beginning a staff meeting Tuesday morning when McRorie came in and delivered the news.

“I was blown away that we moved up that much,” Thrasher said in an interview with the Democrat. “I thought we’d move up some, one, two or three points, I didn’t know. But to be 18th and to be tied with Penn State, Purdue, and the other Top 20 universities, Michigan, Florida, we couldn’t be happier.”

Florida State University President John Thrasher speaks during FSU's new student convocation at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center Sunday, August 25, 2019.

“When I found out the number, I almost fainted,” McRorie added.

Thrasher said the dramatic increase will bring even more value to the students, faculty and the state of Florida.

“Not only for the people here now, but for the folks who have gotten their degrees from Florida State,” Thrasher said. “The value of that degree just went up significantly in terms of ability for jobs, higher education, whatever.”

Thrasher, who said during his presidency interview in 2014 that reaching the Top 25 was a top priority, credited McRorie and her staff, deans, faculty and students, with the success.

“As much as we’ve come up in the numbers, I think the university was that good when we got here,” he said. “It’s just that we’ve put the money and resources in the right places. It gives us a chance to go and tell the world, ‘this is an elite university and we are doing great things here.' ”

Back story: John Thrasher: The 100 million dollar man named 2015 Person of the Year

Florida State’s rise was sparked by its designation — along with that of the University of Florida – as a preeminent university by the state legislature in 2013. Since then, the University of South Florida also has that distinction.

Since fiscal year 2013-14, FSU has received $61.9 million in preeminence funding from the state, in addition to performance funding.

In addition, the university last year surpassed its $1-billion fundraising campaign, raising $1,158,665,865.

Part of that money has been reinvested in hiring new faculty and programs that have led FSU to have the highest four-year-graduation rate in the State University System at 72 percent.

“Florida State University moved up in the rankings this year due to large improvements in graduation rate performance and faculty resources, as well as improvements in academic reputation,” said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News.

Raising the bar – again

Thrasher said FSU has requested the Board of Governors to continue to support the university in critical areas of faculty hiring and student success endeavors.

He now wants to target FSU reaching the Top 15, which he believes is doable, and then shooting for the Top 10.

But that will take a commitment from the governor and lawmakers to further invest in FSU.

“We’ve got a budget request to help us maybe get to the Top 15,” he said, adding that it’s important to set high goals. “We can’t stop here. We want to continue to be successful. The reason is, it’s not just about Florida State. It’s about the University of Florida, they are aspiring to be in the Top 5 and I think they will get there.

“That’s good for the state of Florida,” he said. “That sends a signal out to people who want to move here, employers, that we have a workforce that is highly educated and there is an elite group of people coming out of these universities.”

FSU IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

UF moved up one spot this year to No. 7 in the publication’s rankings, considered the most influential standard among universities throughout the country.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and State University System Chancellor Marshall Criser III, will join Thrasher, faculty leaders and students today during a 10:30 a.m. news conference to officially announce the U.S News rankings.

Return on investment

Thrasher and McRorie both said the rise in the national rankings is a “validation” of the return on investment from the state and of FSU alumni and other donors.

She pointed out that one-third of students enrolled are first in their families to attend a college or university and one-third are Pell Grant recipients.

FSU Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Sally McRorie

“Every student who comes here can succeed at the same level,” she said. “To me, that is the most important thing we are able to accomplish.”

While reaching the Top 20 is a validation of the university’s national prominence, Florida State says its sole focus isn’t ratings.

McRorie points to the university’s emphasis on student success as the primary factor in FSU's rapid rise in the rankings.

Examples of the student-centered focus includes:

  • FSU hired 125 new faculty last fall to improve class size and research. As a result, more than 50 percent of FSU’s classes are smaller than 20 students.
  • Florida State’s four-year graduation rate of 72 percent ranks among the Top 10 public universities in the country and is No. 1 in Florida.
  • FSU’s average six-year graduation rate increased to 80.5 percent, up 3 percentage points in three years.
  • FSU outperformed its predicted graduation rate by 13 percentage points. The university ranks No. 11 among public universities when comparing the actual graduation rate against the predicted rate, which U.S. News calculates based on the university’s resources and student profile.
  • Florida State moved up five spots to No. 17 among public universities for graduation rate of Pell Grant students.
  • FSU also moved up in peer assessment ratings, a survey of the nation’s presidents, provosts and enrollment managers.
  • FSU continued to improve its student-faculty ratio 21-to-1.
  • Florida State also rose one spot to No. 7 in the undergraduate alumni giving metric.

Contact senior writer Byron Dobson at bdobson@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @byrondobson.

Complete ratings

For more on U.S. News and World Report's “Best Colleges 2020” guidebook, visit: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges

Top 20 rankings for Public Schools

  1. University of California-Los Angeles
  2. University of California-Berkeley
  3. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
  4. University of Virginia
  5. Georgia Institute of Technology (tie)
  6. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (tie)
  7. University of California-Santa Barbara (tie)
  8. University of Florida (tie)
  9. University of California-Irvine
  10. University of California-San Diego
  11. University of California-Davis
  12. College of William and Mary
  13. University of Wisconsin-Madison
  14. University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign (tie)
  15. University of Texas-Austin (tie)
  16. University of Georgia
  17. Ohio State University-Columbus
  18. Florida State University (tie)
  19. Pennsylvania State University-University Park (tie)
  20. Purdue University-West Lafayette (tie)
  21. University of Pittsburgh (tie)

Source: 2020 U.S. News and World Report