‘U.S. News & World Report’ gave Syracuse University a wag of the finger and shake of the head when it dropped the school out of the top 50 in its 2007 national college-ranking poll, according to a report released last month.

The university tied with George Washington University at No. 52. Last year, SU shared its spot at No. 50 with the University of Florida. Unlike SU, Florida moved up to No. 47 this year.

Ranking No. 52 out of 248 colleges puts Syracuse in the 21st percentile, which means 79 percent of the schools polled rank beneath it.

Robert Morse, director of data research for ‘U.S. News & World Report,’ said a decline in rank of just one or two spots is ‘not a big deal.’ He noted the higher up a school is positioned on the poll, the harder it is for the school to improve its number.

A better indicator for schools is to take a look at how it has performed during the last few years, Morse said.

‘If each year you went from No. 54, to 56, to 58 and then 60, it would show that the school’s academic profile is deteriorating,’ Morse said. ‘Rising slightly each year shows you’re improving relative to the schools that were around you previously.’

Listing this year first, SU ranked No. 52, No. 50, No.52 and No. 54 during the last four years in that order, Morse said.

‘U.S. News & World Report’ ranks a school’s academic profile using a plethora of categories, Morse said. Categories include – but are not limited to – the quality of undergraduate education, class sizes, student-faculty ratios and graduation retention.

Also taken into account are a school’s financial resources, faculty resources, alumni giving rate and selectivity.

SU ranked highest in the graduation retention and faculty resources categories, Morse said. Areas where the university ranked poorly included financial resources, alumni giving rate and selectivity.

Six schools in New York state ranked in the poll’s top 50, including Columbia University and Cornell University, both of which ranked in the top 12. New York University and the University of Rochester shared a spot at No. 34, while Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy came in at No. 42 and Yeshiva University in New York City at No. 44.

All New York state schools above and including SU are private institutions.

Generally, the ranking of most schools fluctuates one or two spots, but one school of note was the University of Chicago, which jumped from No. 15 to No. 9, Morse said. He referred to the school’s jump as something ‘mega-rare,’ and attributed it to the university admitting it incorrectly tallied its data the previous year.

Kate Geiser, a freshman secondary education and social studies major, said SU ranking at No. 52 is ‘pretty cool.’

‘(The ranking) is definitely higher than I thought it was, but its not surprising because there’s so much offered here and so much going on,’ Geiser said.

According to a similar poll conducted by The Princeton Review, SU is one of the 222 schools listed in the Best Northeastern College category. Also of note is a ranking of No. 18 in the Little Race/Class Interaction category.

Published on August 29, 2006 at 12:00 pm