KU continues to rack up top rankings

Need a few good bragging points for your alma mater? Recent news items include:

TOP 3 IN STUDY ABROAD: KU ranks 3rd in the nation among public research universities in the percentage of students participating in study abroad programs, according to a recent survey compiled by the Institute of International Education.

The 1,141 KU students who participated in study abroad programs during the 2000-01 school year represented almost 23 percent of graduating students in 2001. KU ranks 9th among all public and private research universities in the IIE's report, Open Doors 2002.

The University of Notre Dame topped the list, followed by two New York schools, Yeshiva University in New York City and Cornell University in Ithaca. Cornell was the top public university on the list. The only other public university in the top 10 besides KU is the University of Delaware in Newark, which ranked 6th.

A separate listing in the report also ranked KU 17th among research institutions in the total number of study abroad students.

TOP 7 IN BUSINESS SMARTS: The KU School of Business shares the company of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago when it comes to the prowess of its accounting graduates.

KU ranks among the top 10 public universities for the percentage of graduates who pass the difficult Certified Management Accountant examination and who pass it on their first attempt. KU ranks 7th in the percentage of public school graduates passing the exam and 9th among public school students passing it the first time. The Institute of Certified Management Accountants compiled the pass rates, including information from more than 1,100 schools that had students sitting for the exam.

The exam is similar to the Certified Public Accountant examination. CMA is the second most recognized credential in the financial world after the CPA. KU ranks 19th overall for pass rates when public and private school rankings are combined. The top 20 includes Columbia University, Rice University, Harvard University, Boston University, Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Notre Dame. KU ranks above the College of William and Mary, Tulane University and Northwestern, among others.

TOP 8 IN NATIONAL MERITS: For the fourth consecutive year, KU is among the top 10 public universities in enrolling new National Merit scholars. KU enrolled 100 National Merit scholars this year, more than all other public universities in Kansas and Missouri combined. KU ranks 8th in the nation among all public universities, in a tie with Georgia Tech. It is the fifth time in the past six years that KU has ranked among the top 10 public universities.

KU's record of success is all the more noteworthy considering the size of the candidate pool from Kansas. The state ranked 32nd in the nation in producing National Merit semifinalists, with 169 in 2002. California and Texas were the two largest states, producing 1,249 and 1,620 National Merit finalists, respectively.

RECORD ENROLLMENT: Spring enrollment at KU has set a record for the Lawrence campus, exceeding 25,000 for the first time, and leads enrollment gains among all Kansas Board of Regents universities. KU is the largest university in the regents system, enrolling more Kansas residents than any other university in the state. KU reported the largest increase in total student enrollment and Kansas resident enrollment in the state among regents institutions.

One out of every three students enrolled at a Kansas Regents institution attends KU.

Total enrollment topped 27,000 for the first time since 1994, falling just shy of the record set in 1993.

According to figures released by the Kansas Board of Regents, 27,463 students are enrolled at the KU Lawrence and Kansas City campuses.

A BID TO BE NO. 1: KU's mock trial team has qualified for the American Mock Trial Association National Championship April 4-6 in Des Moines, Iowa. This is the fifth time in its six years of existence that the team has qualified for the tournament.

No. 3 AT PHARMACY: KU's School of Pharmacy continues to rank among the nation's elite programs in terms of securing funding from the National Institutes of Health, according to a recent analysis of data. The school ranked third among all 85 schools and colleges of pharmacy across the nation that received NIH funding during fiscal year 2002 in a recent survey released by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

The school received slightly more than $10 million in NIH awards during fiscal year 2002. Only the University of California-San Francisco, which led all schools, and the University of Arizona ranked higher than KU.

Jack Fincham, dean of KU's pharmacy school, said the ranking is the result of dedicated faculty, exceptional students and involvement in major research projects, including a leadership role in KU's linkage with the Kansas City Life Sciences Initiative.

ENGINEERING COUNCIL: The Engineering Student Council at KU has been chosen as the host of the 2003 national conference of the National Association of Engineering Student Councils, Oct. 16 through 19.

The KU ESC won the bid to host the conference during the NAESC annual meeting last fall. KU ESC, through the KU Endowment Association, is looking for corporate sponsors to help underwrite some of the costs associated with the meeting. The organization has prepared a base budget of $65,000 to host the event.

Need a list of famous KU alumni? Visit www.jayhawks.ku.edu/. Please let us know if we are missing someone.

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