UGA places 10th in national ranking of public universities

ATHENS — The University of Georgia is ranked 10th on a new list of top public colleges and universities in the country.

The list, released by the rankings platform Niche this week, rates more than 500 schools based on academic, admissions, financial, and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education.

UGA scored high marks for academics, value, diversity and athletics.

“Niche’s ranking affirms that the University of Georgia is a powerhouse in both academics and athletics,” UGA President Jere Morehead said. “We have made significant strides in recent years through strategic investments in faculty hires, new and renovated research space, as well as continued enhancements to the quality of the living and learning experience for undergraduates. Those investments are paying off, helping our students to maximize the value of their UGA degrees.”

UGA boasts a retention rate — the percentage of students returning for their second year of studies — of 95%.

Seventy-two percent of students complete their degrees within four years, while 88% finish within six years.

UGA also welcomed its largest and one of its most academically qualified freshman classes for the fall semester. More than 6,200 new first-year students started classes two weeks ago, selected from a record number of 40,000 applicants.

The incoming class averaged a 4.12 high school grade-point average while posting an average SAT score of 1,384 and average ACT score of 32.

The top public university on the Niche list this year was UCLA. The University of Florida is the only other Southeastern Conference school in the top 10, which also included the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia and Georgia Tech.

Special Photo: Dorothy Kozlowski/UGA