Up two rungs among national universities, BU also rises in business, computer science, and psychology programs
Boston University climbed o No. 41 overall in the U.S. News & World Report annual Best College Rankings of national universities, released Tuesday. The University also ranked No. 25 in Best Value among national universities for the second year in a row. Photo by Above Summit
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Up two rungs among national universities, BU also rises in business, computer science, and psychology programs
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Boston University climbed two places, to No. 41 overall, in the U.S. News & World Report annual Best College Rankings of national universities, released Tuesday.
“We are pleased that Boston University’s accomplishments continue to be recognized, and that our strong reputation continues to grow,” University President Melissa L. Gilliam says.
BU was also listed No. 36 in Best Undergraduate Business Programs (up 2 spots), No. 53 in Undergraduate Computer Science (up 10 spots), and No. 34 in Undergraduate Psychology Programs (up 17 spots).
“There are many criteria that go into rankings like these,” Gilliam says, “but I’m especially proud that many of our broad strengths, from our graduation rates to our faculty research, are all reflected in our ascent.”
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In the latest rankings, BU tied with Ohio State University and Rutgers University among 434 national universities, which are categorized as offering a full range of undergraduate majors, master’s and doctoral degrees, and often strongly emphasize research, according to the U.S. News methodology.
U.S. News rankings are considered by some to be one of the most influential college rankings used by parents, students, and guidance officials in choosing a college or university. This year, U.S. News used 17 measures of academic quality to determine the rankings for national universities, including graduation rates, graduation performance, Pell Grant students’ graduation rates and performance, first-year student retention rate, borrower debt, and faculty research.
We are pleased that Boston University’s position as one of the premier universities in the world continues to be widely recognized.
“In the past several years we have worked very hard to make BU accessible through Affordable BU and to ensure the success of students once they enter BU,” says Gloria Waters, University provost and chief academic officer. “What we are most proud of is the improvement in both the first-year retention and the Pell and six-year graduation rates.”
This year BU has reached goals of both a 90 percent graduation rate (six years after matriculation) and a 95 percent retention rate.
“I think our strength is really in the outcomes of our students,” says Linette Decarie, assistant vice president of analytical services and institutional research. “We have been improving steadily in our retention and our graduation rates year over year. Those are the highest that BU has ever had, and they have a really significant importance in this ranking.”
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BU also ranked No. 25 in Best Value among national universities for the second year in a row. The Best Value ranking attempts to look beyond an institution’s tuition plus room and board figures and instead focus on the true cost of attendance by including measures of financial assistance provided to students, among them need-based aid, scholarships, or grants, and the overall financial aid discount rate, as well as the overall academic quality of the institution.
The undergraduate program rankings are based solely on peer assessment surveys conducted among only the programs in those specific fields in the spring and summer of 2024. In other words, feedback from administrators and educators at comparable universities.
BU ranked No. 118 in Top Performers on Social Mobility—up a whopping 104 places from the previous year. This category measures how well schools graduated economically disadvantaged students, using data from the Pell Grants categories. BU administrators are still analyzing how such a big change occurred.
BU was also one of less than a dozen schools in the Top 50 that reached their rankings despite making SAT and ACT scores optional in the admissions process.
“We’re doing something that I think is in the best interest of equity and inclusion for our students,” Decarie says, “and we’re doing it when it’s not as prevalent among other schools in the top 50, and we’re still ranking well.”
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“The improvement in both college graduate earning and social mobility point to the real-life value of an undergraduate education in allowing our students to succeed upon graduation,” Waters says.
“Together these data indicate that our efforts around ensuring the success of our first-year students and retention are paying off,” she says, “and that our commitment to access and affordability is having the desired effect of improving the outcomes for those of all socioeconomic backgrounds.”
This week’s Anatomy of a Goal is a historical one! We’re breaking down Boston Legacy FC’s first-ever goal.
Before we get into that, though, let’s do a quick Legacy heat check. I won’t dice words here: this team is struggling. It’s taken them three games to score a single goal, and they’ve conceded six. Boston has also been averaging the second-lowest expected goals per game thus far (0.60 xG, American Soccer Analysis), though it’s worth mentioning that we’re only three games into the season.
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BOSTON –– Viktor Arvidsson’s oldest daughter, Navy, turned five on Tuesday.
The dad, and Boston Bruins forward, celebrated the occasion by posting his fifth career hat trick that night at TD Garden in a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars.
“That was pretty cool, I got a hat trick on her birthday,” Arvidsson said. “She’ll be happy, for sure.”
Arvidsson’s three goals earned the Bruins their fourth consecutive win against top-ranked opponents and extended his point streak to four games; he has nine points (five goals, four assists) through that stretch.
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“I think we have fun together, and we put a lot of emphasis on being hard on each other, really pushing each other,” Arvidsson said. “I think in that regard, we’re really happy where we are.”
The Bruins got out to a 2-0 lead by the end of the first period. Marat Khusnutdinov opened the scoring with his 15th goal of the season. David Pastrnak got the puck down low and chipped it up to Henri Jokiharju, who blasted a shot from the point. Khusnutdinov was there to knock in the rebound at 9:58.
Arvidsson doubled the advantage just as the B’s power play expired. Pavel Zacha threw the puck on net, Pastrnak collected the redirection and pushed it towards the crease where Arvidsson battled for positioning and tapped it in at 18:51 to make it 2-0. Zacha’s helper on the play extended his point streak to five games; he has five goals and four assists in that time.
“It always seems like we play better when we’re playing against better teams. For us, the playoffs already started a long time ago,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “I think that’s a good thing about our team right now – we want to get challenged right now.”
Dallas got on the board in the middle frame with a wrist shot from Jamie Benn at 4:49. Matt Duchene found the 2-2 equalizer at 16:53.
BOSTON –– The push continues for the Boston Bruins.
The B’s will host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday at TD Garden for a 7 p.m. puck drop in the teams’ second and final meeting this regular season.
“We’re playing against a really good hockey team. I feel like it feels a little bit the same when we played Minnesota the other night – on paper, a very good team. Obviously, on points and standings, too. Just very high-end talent throughout the lineup,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “It will be a handful, and we have to make sure we’re ready to go. Hopefully, we learned from big, emotional games in the past.”
Boston is coming off a 4-3 shootout win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday; the group collected all four points available on its back–to–back weekend. Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic’s fights in Columbus sparked the comeback for the Bruins.
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“We’re playing really good teams every single night,” Jeannot said. “It’s a really good build-up to the intensity of what’s to come, and we’re just going to continue to learn and grow from it, just like we’ve been doing all year. To have a come-from-behind win like that, it’s only going to help us.”
The Stars, who sit second in the NHL and the Central Division with 100 points, have clinched a playoff berth. The Bruins are in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 92 points.
“I think every game right now – it’s felt like playoffs for the last month or so. You can just definitely feel the urgency with every game. It’s no different tonight,” Kastelic said. “I think it’s great for everybody to get a taste of that, myself included. It’s really fun hockey to be part of this time of the year. With eight games to go, to be in the position we are, it’s some of the most fun I’ve had playing hockey in a long time. Hopefully there’s more to come, and tonight’s just another step.”
Henri Jokiharju will remain in the lineup for the Bruins in place of Mason Lohrei, who is working through a day-to-day upper-body injury, Sturm said. Jokiharju will skate on the second pair with Hampus Lindholm. The defenseman has 11 assists through 38 games this season while averaging 17:51 of ice time per night.
