QS World University Rankings: University of Michigan Tops American Public Universities

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By Beatrice Walters , Parent Herald Sep 09, 05:07 am

If you don't have enough budget for a private college institution, why not set your eyes on an equally good public college? The University of Michigan has proven once again its high quality education by being ranked as the top American public university.

Recently, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released its world university rankings and for four times in five years, the University of Michigan has been lined among the esteemed Ivy Leagues, besting other public universities. MLive reports that the university was ranked 30 last school year and is now at Rank 23 for 2016-2017--the only American public university to reach the Top 25.

The QS World University rankings gave the University of Michigan an overall score of 86.4. These are based on six performance indicators with the university scoring 99.6 on Academic Reputation (40 percent), 89.6 on Employer Reputation (10 percent), 86.7 on Faculty-Student Ratio (20 percent), 71.7 on Citations per Faculty (20 percent), 90.9 on International Faculty ratio (5 percent) and 37.9 on International Students ratio (5 percent).

The University of Michigan's programs are described as "responsive to the changing needs of society" and "relevant to the goals of students and community partners." The university also opens doors for independent and collaborative study, and research as well as practical applications.

According to The Atlantic, prestigious college rankings largely affect the college choices of senior high school students. Based on a 2014 report by the American Educational Research Association, applications increase when a school secures a high academic ranking. If students don't know any alumnus from the university and campus visits are costly, they resort to trusted rankings to help them make their choice.

The QS World University Rankings first released its university list in 2004. They assess 900 top universities of the world. This year, the top four universities are Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Standford University, Harvard University and University of Cambridge.

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