A best college in the U.S.!
#1 in Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering in the country.
#2 in Mechanical Engineering in the country.
A “Program to Look For – Internships/Co-op.”
And, one of the best universities in the Midwest, too!
Kettering University is highly ranked nationally in the 2012 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges edition. U.S. News released its 2012 annual Best Colleges report on Sept. 13.
Kettering’s overall rankings in the 2012 edition are:
#1 – Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering
# 2 - Mechanical Engineering
#16 - Best Regional Universities: Midwest
#27 – Best in Undergraduate Engineering (without a doctorate): National
Programs to Look For: Internships/Co-operative Education
Kettering Provost Robert Simpson said the Best Colleges list is a moving target year by year. “This Best Colleges ranking edition is controversial at best, relying so heavily on peer review from around the country. In spite of that, Kettering fared well this year. I applaud the faculty, staff and students who retained their #2 national ranking for Mechanical Engineering. Their efforts bring national recognition to our largest program. And special congratulations to #1 ranked Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. Kettering has led the country in this discipline for more than a decade and it’s gratifying to see U.S. News restore the category to the respect it deserves,” Simpson said.
“It is also wonderful to see the acknowledgement of Kettering’s prominence in experiential learning with Kettering’s return to the Programs to Look For list,” Simpson continued. “Kettering deserves to receive that national recognition, along with the University of Cincinnati, RIT, Northeastern and other leading universities.
“Probably the most significant part of this year’s ranking is Kettering’s classification as a Best Regional University in the Midwest. U.S. News now describes us as a top-tier institution in the region where the majority of our students and corporate partners are from. I think that designation is an important step forward in Kettering’s growing momentum,” Simpson added.
#1 in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Kettering’s Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department is again ranked #1 in the country in its category -- “Best in Undergraduate Engineering at schools whose highest degree is a bachelor’s of master’s.”
U.S. News has restored the I/M category in the 2012 edition. Dr. W. L. Scheller, department head of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, said Kettering has dominated this category for more than a decade. U.S. News deleted the category in 2011 edition, but restored the listing and named Kettering #1 again in its current Best Colleges edition.
"I am delighted that U.S. News & World Report has restored the category of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering for non-Ph.D. granting institutions and that Kettering is #1 in that category," Scheller said. "Non-Ph.D. granting institutions focus on teaching and are critical in supplying the nation with outstanding engineers. Kettering is especially notable since our co-op program produces industrial engineers who are job ready upon graduation," he added.
#2 in Mechanical Engineering in the country
Kettering’s Mechanical Engineering Department retained its #2 national ranking for the third year in a row. The category is “Best in Undergraduate Engineering at schools whose highest degree is a bachelor’s of master’s.”
"The Mechanical Engineering faculty, staff and students are very proud of this national ranking,” said Dr. K. Joel Berry, professor and head of Mechanical Engineering. “Our outstanding faculty combined with superb laboratory facilities and an attractive curriculum are just a few reasons why we have ranked so high consistently.
“We remain committed to not only excellence in the classroom, but are also committed to excellence in faculty scholarship, applied research, pre-college programs, innovation and entrepreneurship, and hands-on experiential learning,” Berry added.
2012 rankings: Mechanical Engineering
1. Rose-Hulman (IN)
2. Kettering University (MI)
3. Calif. Polytechnic State U. - San Luis Obispo (CA)
4. Cooper Union (NY)
4. Harvey Mudd College (CA)
Programs to look for: Internships/Co-op Education
Another piece of good national news -- Kettering returned to Programs to look for: Internships/Co-op education, a category it was excluded from last year.
Schools nominated in this category require or encourage students to apply
what they’re learning in the classroom to work in the real world through closely supervised internships or practicums, or through cooperative education, in which one period of study typically alternates with one of work.
This listing includes eight programs that education experts, including staff members of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, agree are key. College presidents, chief academic officers, and deans of admissions were invited in the spring of 2011 to nominate up to 10 institutions with stellar examples of each, from a list of all bachelor’s-granting regionally accredited colleges. Schools that were named the most times in each area are listed in alphabetical order.
PROGRAMS TO LOOK FOR: Internships/Co-op Education:
Berea College (KY)
Drexel University (PA)
Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
Kettering University (MI)
Northeastern University (MA)
Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)
Rochester Inst. of Technology (NY)
University of Cincinnati (OH)
Univ. of Maryland - College Park (MA)
Wagner College (NY)
#16 – Best Regional Universities: Midwest
U.S. News rankings are somewhat different this year. Editors updated ranking categories to reflect the 2010 edition of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education's basic classification. As a result, some colleges changed ranking categories in the 2012 edition rankings compared to the 2011 edition.
Kettering is now ranked as a Best Regional University – Midwest. Kettering is considered a top-tier university in the Midwest and is tied for #16 in the Best Regional University – Midwest category. U.S. News listed 110 Midwest schools in its top-tier category. Previously, Kettering was in the Unranked Specialty Schools category.
Best Regional Universities: Midwest
1. Creighton University (NE)
2. Butler University (IN)
3. Drake University (IA)
4. Valparaiso University (IN)
4. Xavier University (OH)
6. Bradley University (IL)
7. John Carroll University (OH)
8. Truman State University (MO)
9. University of Evansville (IN)
10. Drury University (MO)
11. Hamline University (MN)
12. Baldwin-Wallace College (OH)
12. Elmhurst College (IL)
14. Otterbein College (OH)
14. St. Catherine University (MN)
16. Kettering University (MI)
16. University of Northern Iowa (IA)
16. University of Wisconsin – La Crosse (WI)
19 Bethel University (MN)
19. Dominican University (IL)
19. Milwaukee School of Engineering (WI)
19. Rockhurst University (MO)
The U.S. News rankings of undergraduate engineering programs accredited by ABET are based solely on the peer judgments of deans and senior faculty who rated each program they are familiar with on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). Engineering school deans and faculty members (two surveys were sent to each ABET-accredited engineering program) were surveyed for this ranking in spring 2010.
U.S. News has separate rankings for undergraduate engineering programs at colleges that offer doctoral degrees in engineering and for engineering programs at colleges whose terminal degree in engineering is a bachelor's or master's. Thirty-seven percent of those surveyed returned ratings of the group whose terminal degree in engineering is a bachelor's or master's; 58 percent did so for the doctoral group.
U.S. News also asked for nominations of the best engineering programs in specialty areas; those receiving the most mentions in each appear here ranked in descending order. The rankings of the best engineering programs in a specialty also are based solely on the spring 2010 peer survey. Schools offering any courses in that specialty are eligible to be ranked in that specialty. The specialty rankings were not based on whether an engineering program has specific ABET accreditation in that specialty area.
2012 Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (without a doctorate):
1. Harvey Mudd College (CA)
1. Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. (IN)
3. United States Military Academy (NY)
4. Cooper Union (NY)
5. Calif. Polytech. St. U.– San Luis Obispo
5. United States Air Force Acad. (CO)
5. United States Naval Academy (MD)
8. Franklin W. Olin Col. of Eng. (MA)
9. Bucknell University (PA)
9. Villanova University (PA)
11. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U (FL)
11. Milwaukee School of Engineering (WI)
13. Baylor University (TX)
13. Swarthmore College (PA)
11. U.S. Coast Guard Academy (CT)
16. Calif. State Polytechnic Univ. – Pomona (CA)
16. Embry-Riddle Aero U.- Prescott (AZ)
16. Lafayette College (PA)
16. Rowan University (NJ)
16. Union College (NY)
21. The Citadel (SC)
21. Miami University – Oxford (OH)
21. Santa Clara University (CA)
21. Smith College (MA)
21. Trinity University (TX)
21. Virginia Military Institute (VA)
27. Bradley University (IL)
27. Gonzaga University (WA)
27. Kettering University (MI)
27. Loyola Marymount University (CA)
27. San Jose State University (CA)
27. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (NY)
27. University of Colorado – Colorado Springs (CO)
27. University of Michigan – Dearborn (MI)
27. University of San Diego (CA)
27. Valparaiso University (IN)
37. Boise State University (ID)
The 350-page 2012 edition of the Best Colleges guidebook is available at USNews.com and will be on newsstands Sept. 20.
Written by Patricia Mroczek and U.S. News Sources
810.762.9533
pmroczek@kettering.edu