UF has ranked among the top-10 public universities in the nation.
The 2016 report by Buffalo Business First placed UF 10th in the nation out of 477 public universities. This puts UF above all other Florida schools. Last year, however, UF ranked seventh.
Buffalo Business First assessed schools based on factors such as graduation rates, admission rates, racial and gender diversity of faculty and staff, housing affordability and rankings from other reports, such as the U.S. News & World Report.
UF will continue to work to raise its national status, UF spokesman Steve Orlando wrote in an email.
He said he wasn’t sure why the ranking fell from seventh to 10th.
“We’re still in the top 10, which is certainly a highly competitive group of institutions,” he said.
He said in the report, UF performed well in categories such as six-year graduation rates, affordability, and retention, or the number of students who come back to UF the next year.
“In some of the other areas, such as diversity, there’s always room for improvement,” he said.
Erin Seu, a UF psychology sophomore, said she thinks UF could improve its ranking with more student diversity.
“I agree that diversity could use some more work,” the 19-year-old said. “But I don’t necessarily think that it’s worse than last year.”
She said UF should be ranked a top-10 university.
“It’s a competitive school because it’s a good school,” she said.
