For the eighth consecutive year, Arizona State University is ranked #1 for innovation in US News & World Report’s newly released annual Best Colleges rankings.
Over the past 20 years, ASU has evolved from a regional desert university into a world-renowned public research institution with tremendous societal impact, an achievement reflected in its undisputed award for Most Innovative University – ahead of MIT and Stanford – each year since the category’s emergence.
“For two decades, Arizona State University has been designing, building and reinventing itself as a leader in innovation,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow. “We have tested and implemented new ways of teaching, learning, discovery and service at all levels of the institution – all with the goal of demonstrating our commitment to excellence, access and impact – and I am deeply grateful to all who have contributed Evolution.
“Innovation has the power to create better lives for all, and our future together holds limitless potential, opportunity and inspiration to manifest a healthy, just and just tomorrow. ASU welcomes the opportunity to dream and work together with others to make those dreams a reality.”
Institutions were nominated in the Innovation category by college presidents, provosts and admissions deans from across the country. Schools are selected based on who is determined to make the most innovative improvements in curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology and facilities.
In the past year alone, the university implemented the LIFT initiative to address inequalities in academia, reinvented online education for science students, and launched the New Economy Initiative to bring new, high-paying jobs to Arizona and increase the state’s economic output.
In recent years, advances that have contributed to ASU’s #1 ranking have included the launch of Dreamscape Learn’s immersive, virtual reality-based curriculum, the achievement of carbon neutrality, and the One Square Mile Initiative urban revitalization project.
“By keeping innovation at the forefront of everything we do, we continue to transform the way the world solves problems,” said Sally C. Morton, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise. “ASU is reinventing what’s possible in our collective future by developing pioneering solutions that positively impact our students, our university, our communities, and the world in far-reaching ways.”
Among other US News & World Report Best Colleges categories, ASU ranked:
• #23 in Best Undergraduate Business: The WP Carey School of Business finished ahead of the University of Arizona, Purdue University and Boston College. School programs that ranked in the top 10 include Supply Chain Management (#2), Analytics (#8), and Management Information Systems (#10).
• #29 in Best Nursing: Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation had a 10-way tie in this category with schools like the University of Miami, the University of Rochester, and the University of Utah.
• #33 in Best Undergraduate Engineering: The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, which climbed nine spots in the past two years (and ties with Yale University, the University of Notre Dame, and North Carolina State University), ranked six undergraduate programs among the Top 25: Civil Engineering (#18), Electrical Engineering (#20), Cybersecurity (tied with Northeastern and Texas A&M for #20), Environmental Engineering (tied with UCLA for #21), Computer Engineering (#23), Mechanical Engineering (No. 23).
• Other highlights: ASU tied with Harvard for #18 in Best Undergraduate Teaching, ahead of Yale and Stanford; #16 for Best Senior Capstone, ahead of Harvard, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and Bryn Mawr College; No. 23 for freshman experience, ahead of Harvard, Notre Dame, and Vanderbilt; and No. 32 for undergraduate research, ahead of Columbia University and tied with UCLA and the University of Chicago.
For a complete list of rankings, dates, and methods, visit the US News College Compass website.
