University of Florida students have different perspectives on how important it is for a school to rank high. For some, being among the top 10 public universities in the country can influence their decision to attend UF.
The University of Florida was ranked No. 7 among public universities in the country for the second consecutive year on Sept. 23 by U.S. News & World Report, marking UF’s eighth year in the top 10.
For some students, the national ranking is secondary to their day-to-day experience at UF.
Gabriella Ospina, 22, a biotechnology major, said she loves UF and wasn’t aware of the ranking. But it doesn’t change her perspective on how good the school is.
Her parents, on the other hand, did check the ranking before she applied.
“I knew that it was a good university, I don’t think a ranking really takes away from that,” Ospina said.
Olivia Gregg, 19, a business administration major, thinks otherwise. For her, the ranking shows UF could be investing more in academics.
“(The ranking) does matter to me, especially since we are such like an academically rigorous school and we are really hard to get into. I think our ranking does reflect how we stand out nationally,” Gregg said.
In a University of Florida News press release, UF was recognized for its academic excellence and student success, earning its placement at No. 30 in the nation among all universities, according to the U.S. News & World Report.
UF’s constant innovation, faculty resources and student outcomes – including graduation and retention rates – made it stand out in this ranking.
Even though this is a source of pride for the Gator community, the university’s ranking has dropped compared with its position in 2022, when it was No. 5, and in 2023, when it was No. 6 among public universities.
Steve Orlando, interim vice president for communications and marketing at UF, said he sees this achievement as a sign of stability.
“There’s always room for improvement. We were at one time No. 5, so our goal is to get back into the top five. But being in the top 10 is a good thing, being in the top five is even better,” Orlando said.
UF is in good company as a top 10 public university. The University of California, Berkeley, is ranked at No. 1; University of California, Los Angeles at No. 2; and University of Michigan at No. 3.
Orlando said these competitive universities are not standing still; they’re striving to maintain or move up in the rankings.
“Everybody is jockeying for position. That doesn’t necessarily reflect poorly on the University of Florida, just means we’re in a very competitive bracket,” Orlando said.
UF continues to create strategies to improve the quality of education and move higher up each year in the rankings. The student-faculty ratio plays a big role in the calculation of top schools.
“Our student-faculty ratio is currently 16-to-1, I believe, which is very competitive. We are always trying to improve that because what that means is fewer students in a class provides a better educational experience,” Orlando said.
Associate psychology professor Colin Smith said UF attracts many of the state’s top students, which is a major contributor to its academic success.
“That is an advantage that UF has. It is at the top of a big state, and so it pulls in sort of all the best students from the state of Florida,” Smith said.
Smith added that while rankings carry weight, they can’t fully measure a university’s strengths.
“It’s a really good school. Across campus obviously there’s things that are great and things that are bad, I mean it’s really hard to turn that into a number,” Smith said.