<p>I posted a similar thread last year for the 2013 rankings. I don't think it's right to give credence to these rankings, but the fact is that most people go by the U.S. News rankings, if they go by university rankings.</p>
<p>Regardless, FSU has moved from #97 to #91:</p>
<p>Florida</a> State University | Best College | US News</p>
<p>Not bad. I think it's likely our ranking will either improve or hold steady with each year; I can't see it ever dropping.</p>
<p>Likely rise. President Barron knows what metrics work.</p>
<p>And not just metrics. He seems to be the real-deal when it comes to academics.</p>
<p>Since 2008, FSU’s academic performance has been steadily rising, in spite of years of budget slashing. That’s impressive:</p>
<p>2008 FSU #112
2009 FSU #102
2010 FSU #102
2011 FSU #104
2012 FSU #101
2013 FSU #97
2014 FSU #91</p>
<p>this is great news since im considering this school :D</p>
<p>Also up amongst public universities from 42 to 40.</p>
<p>Given preeminence funding this will continue. That’s the upside. The downside is that an already highly competitive school will become more difficult to enter.</p>
<p>
I read an article regarding the incoming FSU freshman class that said that it actually was slightly easier this year to get into FSU than last year, with the average SAT score being 10 points lower than last year (that’s the only stat I remember from the article).</p>
<p>It attributed the decline to FSU having a slightly larger incoming class (6100 vs 6000), but the connection they made to that was pretty iffy at best.</p>
<p>Barron was hired in 2009, in the midst of difficult fiscal times. He has steadily guided FSU to higher rankings, which tend to reflect better fundamentals despite the budget. This was not easy with a declining budget…when any error has a substantially greater impact than in times of fat budgets. This precision of decision-making will continue to pay dividends - thus making FSU more attractive and more competitive.</p>
<p>College enrollment is declining across most schools in the country due to the improvement in the economy. During bad economic times, college admissions become more competitive because everyone is trying to escape the bad job market.</p>
<p>The fact that FSU was able to increase the size of its freshman class is a healthy sign, considering that some less well-known schools (especially private schools that lack strong funding) are really struggling to meet their enrollment goals.</p>
<p>Selectivity is not as important to the USNews rankings as people tend to assume. And, FSUs freshman statistics are already fairly high, relative to its ranking. I think the main concern right now is our relatively high student-faculty ratio, which the preeminence funding will help to improve over the next few years.</p>
<p>While FSU’s ranking has jumped dramatically since 2008, UF and Miami’s have been steady (around #50 – still higher than FSU). To be fair, they have stiffer competition ahead of them, so its harder for them to rise further, but I think it’s clear that FSU is on a roll and is closing the gap.</p>
<p>Comments by President Barron: </p>
<p>[Barron</a> moves forward with FSUs top 25 plans | FSView | fsunews.com](<a href=“http://www.fsunews.com/article/20130903/FSVIEW1/130902012/Barron-moves-forward-FSU-s-top-25-plans]Barron”>http://www.fsunews.com/article/20130903/FSVIEW1/130902012/Barron-moves-forward-FSU-s-top-25-plans)</p>
<p>The future is bright. Barron gets it.</p>
<p>Yep. We really got lucky with this guy. Compare FSUs measurable gains over the past few years to the relative stagnation of UF/UCF/USF. I hope the trustees see that and lock him up with a good contract for a long time :)</p>
<p>Totally agree. He is worth what it takes to keep him. I have more than tripled my contributions to FSU due to his accomplishments - not platitudes and glad-handing alumni, but accomplishments.</p>