UAlbany Ranks High Among National Universities for Excellence and Public Service

Washington Monthly Considers Student Success, Research and Social Consciousness

Faculty and students from the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis, shown above, seek to aid the vulnerable in society by interdisciplinary research into populations.

ALBANY, N.Y. (September 15, 2011) -- The University at Albany places among the top 100 national universities in the newly released Washington Monthly College Guide, which annually measures institutions of higher education for research quality, student success and public service.

UAlbany finished 76th in the survey of 258 national universities, finishing one place behind SUNY Stony Brook as the two top University Centers. SUNY Binghamton ranked 119th and SUNY Buffalo 160th.

The magazine’s editors asked: “What are colleges doing for the country? Are they engines of social mobility? Do they promote the idea of service to the country? Do they foster scientific and humanistic research?”

"This ranking by Washington Monthly confirms the value of the University at Albany as a force for public good,” said UAlbany President George M. Philip. "It testifies to the life-enhancing research being conducted here, the accessibility the University provides to young people from all economic classes and diverse populations, and the level of service to society to which our student population is committed.

Volunteerism and other public service by students is on the rise at UAlbany. Here, social welfare major Bethani Gately works with children at a Boys & Girls Club after-school program in Albany. (Photo by Mark McCarty)

"A prime example of this was the University being named this May to President Obama's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll."

This is the seventh year of the Washington Monthly College Guide. Its social mobility component measures how well a university combines a high degree of access for low-income students with a higher-than-predicted graduation rate. Its research component assesses how well a university attracts research grants and the percentage of graduate students who successfully earn PhDs. The service component rates such factors as community service hours by students and staff and inclusion on the Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

In the survey, UAlbany led all SUNY University Centers in the areas of actual graduation rate over predicted graduation rate for low-income students; local to international community service participation and hours served; and staff, course, and financial aid support for community service. The University was a close second to SUNY Buffalo in research expenditures.

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