University of Kansas improves their ranking in U.S. News and World Report

Jude Gosse | @judegosse

The U.S. News and World report released their 2025 best college rankings on Sept. 23. The University of Kansas has improved their ranking seven spots from last year to number 74 amongst public universities. 

Chancellor Douglas Girod released a statement in response to the released rankings.

  “We recognize that some students and families look to these rankings when making their college decisions,” Girod said in the statement. “That said, we remain focused on our own measures of success, which align with the Kansas Board of Regents’ strategic plan, the needs of Kansas businesses and communities, and our aspirations as one of the nation’s leading research institutions.”

University of Kansas recruitment and admissions rely on the rankings in various aspects.

  “Our marketing team through admissions is using it a lot through social media, emails… but we also use it in our daily message whether it’s a school visit or a college fair,” said Scott Anderson, a KU admissions representative,  said . 

Apart from the schoolwide ranking, out of KU’s nearly 275 undergrad fields of study, four programs finished top fifty nationally for public universities with Nursing at 25, Psychology at. 31, Business at 40 and Economics at 43.

KU finds itself right in the middle ranking 7th out of the 13 public big 12 schools, behind direct competitors Colorado and Iowa State but ahead of Kansas State and Oklahoma State. Border rival and former Big 12 school University of Missouri is ranked at 49.

It was also recently announced that KU has once again broken its record for total enrollment, with 31,169 students. 

“We’re very excited about it, it says a lot about the university. Where higher ed is actually on the decline in a lot of places, here at KU it’s been going up. So, that says a lot about our programming, our social aspects, the value of the education they’re getting here, all those are huge plusses,” Anderson said .