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<p>Academy academics rank among best in nation</p>
<p>U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) – The Air Force Academy was named the best baccalaureate college in the west, and received top rankings in several engineering programs, according to the U.S. News &; World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2008 rankings, released Aug. 17.</p>
<p>U.S. News &; World Report evaluated the 320 universities in the nation that offer only undergraduate degrees, and ranked them in four geographic regions: west, north, mid-west and south.</p>
<p>In the west region, the Academy led the list as best baccalaureate college. This region includes Texas, Oklahoma, and every state north, south and west of Colorado, including Alaska and Hawaii.</p>
<p>The ranking was based on a wide range of university-wide statistics, including student-faculty ratio, percentage of full time faculty, acceptance rate, average class size and freshman retention rates. At the Air Force Academy the student-faculty ratio is 8-to-1, 100 percent of the faculty is full-time, the acceptance rate is 19 percent and 81 percent of classes here have fewer than 20 cadets in the classroom.</p>
<p>Several of the Academy’s undergraduate engineering disciplines also received top national rankings. Overall, the Academy’s undergraduate engineering programs are tied with Pennsylvania’s Bucknell University for seventh best in the nation this year. Several undergraduate engineering specialties also were ranked among the nation’s best.</p>
<p>The Academy ranked second in the nation in aeronautical and astronautical engineering for the seventh consecutive year, behind only Embry Riddle University.</p>
<p>In civil engineering, the Academy tied Virginia Military Institute, Pennsylvania’s Lafayette College and Illinois’ Bradley University for the seventh slot.</p>
<p>In electrical engineering, the Academy tied New Jersey’s Rowan University for the eighth best in the nation.</p>
<p>The Academy’s management department also made the charts, tying for 83rd in the best undergraduate business program rankings.</p>
<p>For the business and engineering disciplines, the rankings are produced after examining a weighted combination of factors. These start with peer assessment by university deans and senior faculty (25 percent), and then include graduation and retention rates (25 percent), faculty resources (20 percent), student selectivity (15 percent), financial resources (10 percent), and alumni giving rate.</p>
<p>The rankings are separated by which universities offer graduate education programs, and those which have only undergraduate programs, such as the Air Force Academy.</p>
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