Washington D.C.’s “Washington Monthly” released a report ranking Mississippi State University No. 71 among the top 100 National Universities on Aug. 26.
This is not the first time MSU has been placed among the top 100 in the “Washington Monthly.” In 2005, MSU was No. 95 on the list.
The magazine explained the national schools were ranked based on three broad and important categories, including social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs) and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).
Michael Hogan, Student Association President and senior business management major said MSU’s place in the top 100 gives MSU the recognition it needs on a national level.
“Within the last five years, MSU has grown incredibly. In the past, each department worked for their own success. Now, every entity of campus, while still using individual tactics to achieve goals, works together toward enhancing MSU,” Hogan said.
Hogan said MSU creates higher expectations for southern schools.
“MSU is doing a great job in the South, and it is a really good thing that the bar is being extended,” he said.
The National Science Foundation ranked MSU No. 91 among public and private institutions as one of the nation’s top research universities. It was also ranked in the top 10 for agricultural-related research.
Rankings from the Science Foundation are products of the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey for the fiscal year 2011.
Gregory Bohach, vice president of the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine at MSU, said this ranking is dedicated to a $7.5 billion revenue for research in the division of agriculture.
“Faculty and staff write a lot of research proposals to private and state commodities in order to inherit research opportunities. This division is always trying to improve and stay among leading revenues,” Bohach said.
Bohach said these rankings make MSU visible, as well as being one of the only two land-grant universities in Mississippi, the other being Alcorn State University.
The National Science Foundation ranked MSU No. 29 in social sciences, No. 37 in computer science, No. 45 in engineering, No. 49 in humanities and No. 75 in environmental sciences. MSU was ranked sixth in the top 10 for agricultural-related research.
MSU was also named to the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction last year, according to MSU’s Relations News Bureau.