Florida University Makes List of Top Public Colleges for First Time

For the first time, a Florida university has cracked the U.S. News and World Report’s list of top 10 public universities in the country.

The University of Florida ranked number nine on the prestigious list, just behind the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Last year, the Gainesville college ranked number 14 among public universities.

According to UF, this is the first time a Florida school has broken into the annual list. UF tied with the University of California, Irvine and the University of California, San Diego for the number nine position.

U.S. News and World Report based their rankings on 15 measures of academic quality, including first-year student retention rates, graduation rate performance, financial resources and alumni giving.

Here are the public universities that made the list:

1 – University of California, Berkeley

1 – University of California, Los Angeles

3 – University of Virginia

4 - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

5 - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

6 – College of William & Mary

7 – Georgia Institute of Technology

8 – University of California, Santa Barbara

9 – University of Florida

9 – University of California, Irvine

9 – University of California, San Diego