UCSB Ranked Among Top U.S. Universities by Washington Monthly

UC Santa Barbara has been ranked number 13 in a list of the Top 30 National Universities, released by Washington Monthly magazine in its September/October issue.

While U.S. News & World Report usually awards its highest ratings to private universities, the editors of Washington Monthly prefer to give public universities more credit, and higher rankings. Twelve of the top 20 universities in the Washington Monthly rankings are taxpayer-funded. Some of U.S. News & World Report's top private universities are not even ranked among Washington Monthly's top 30.

The University of California dominated Washington Monthly's 2011 list, with UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, and UCLA ranking 1-2-3. UC Riverside is ranked number 5, and UC Davis is ranked number 8.

Public universities have been battered by state budget cuts in recent years, but despite their financial woes, 12 of the 20 highest-rated universities are public, including the top-ranked UC San Diego, the magazine's editors note. "Six of the eight campuses in the UC system land among our best-ranked universities, a testament to California's historic commitment to institutions that combine world-class research and access for low-income students," the editors said.

Among the criteria considered by Washington Monthly are the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants; the difference between predicted vs. actual graduation rates; total research spending; Peace Corps service by graduates; faculty awards; and faculty members elected to national academies.