UK drops for 3rd straight year in national rankings

For Immediate Release
August 21, 2009

Contact: Martin Cothran
Phone: 859-329-1919

The University of Kentucky dropped in the U. S. News and World Report ranking for the third time in three years according to the magazine's newly released national rankings. "The three-year slide is bad enough," said Martin Cothran, senior policy analyst for the Family Foundation of Kentucky. "This report points out some problems the University of Kentucky needs to address."

The university went from 112th in the nation in 2007 to 122nd in 2008. This year it dropped further to 128th in the nation. Cothran pointed to a simple comparison with other SEC schools (excluding Vanderbilt), a comparison many Kentuckians would find familiar, that showed where the university needed to put its attention:

• Diversity Index Rank: Worst
• Average Freshman Retention Rate Rank: Lowest
• Average Alumni Giving: 2nd lowest
• Fall 2008 Acceptance Rate: 2nd highest
• Average high school GPA: 2nd worst
• Cost of room & board: Worst
• Classes with fewer than 20 students: 2nd lowest
• Classes with 50 students or more: 3rd highest
• 6-year graduation rate: 2nd lowest

"Two years ago, the university argued that implementing domestic partner benefits would help it become a top 20 research school," said Cothran. "We argued then that the university needed to drop the political correctness and get its priorities straight. This report is further evidence that it hasn't done that."

###