UCF ranks top 5 in college guide

For the fifth consecutive year, UCF has been recognized as one of the nation’s top-five up-and-coming schools by U.S. News & World Report in its best college rankings list released Wednesday.

“The annual rankings reflect UCF’s commitment to quality growth,” Chad Binette, associate director of UCF News & Information, said in a press release. “The average SAT score for UCF’s fall freshman class has increased 77 points during the past 10 years to 1244 this year.”

“UCF’s continued advancement in the rankings during a period of severe state budget cuts is a testament to our hard-working staff and faculty members,” UCF spokesman Grant Heston said in a press release. “Their dedication enables us to provide our students with a high-quality education and opportunities that prepare them for a lifetime of success."

UCF ranked No. 174 on the best colleges list, moving up three spots from last year’s ranking. Five other Florida universities made the list.

University of Miami ranked highest in the state at No. 44, University of Florida ranked No. 54, Florida State University ranked No. 97, Florida Institute of Technology ranked No. 160 and University of South Florida ranked a few spots above UCF at No. 170.

Earlier this year, U.S. News & World Report ranked the UCF College of Education’s graduate counselor education program at No. 11 in the country, the UCF College of Optics and Photonics program at No. 13 and the special education graduate program at No. 14.

The Best Colleges 2013 guidebook is available online and will be on newsstands Thursday.