Rankings and Recognitions

As Michigan State University advances knowledge and transforms lives through innovative academic programs, research, and outreach, the university is recognized internationally as a top research university and a leader in international engagement.

University-wide distinctions

• MSU is one of only four higher education institutions in the nation to rank in the top 10 for study abroad participation and international student enrollment, according to Open Doors 2011, the Institute of International Education's annual report on international education. For the seventh year in a row, MSU sent more students abroad than any other public university, with 2,589 students studying overseas in 2009–10. Also, MSU ranks ninth overall among U.S. institutions in international student enrollment, with 5,748 international students on campus in 2010–11 representing 12 percent of the total student population.
• MSU has been recognized for nine consecutive years as one of the top 100 universities in the world by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in its Academic Ranking of World Universities. The 2011 rankings also place MSU among the world's top 100 universities in five fields: economics/business, social sciences, life and agricultural sciences, physics, and engineering/technology and computer sciences.
• MSU ranked in the top 100 in the World University Rankings 2011–12 published by Times Higher Education.
  
• U.S. News & World Report's 2012 edition of America's Best Colleges ranks MSU 28th among the nation's public universities. The publication consistently ranks MSU among the top 100 national universities in its annual rankings.
• MSU's residential college, study abroad, and service-learning programs are recognized as "outstanding programs" designed to foster student success in U.S. News & World's 2012 edition of America's Best Colleges.
• MSU ranks seventh among the nation's large universities for producing Peace Corps volunteers with 90 undergraduate alumni serving in 2011, according to 2012 Peace Corps rankings. Since the organization was founded in 1961, 2,268 MSU alumni have served in the Peace Corps, making MSU the No. 6 all-time producer of volunteers among large universities.
• MSU was named to the most recent President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, which annually recognizes institutions of higher education for their commitment to and achievement in community service. The award is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement. MSU has been honored every year since the award was launched in 2006, including winning the Presidential Award for General Community Service in 2008.
• MSU earned a silver rating from the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System, or STARS, a new Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education program that measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. Ratings are determined by information STARS participants publicly report regarding sustainability performance in three overall areas: education and research; operations; and planning, administration, and engagement.
• MSU ranked in the top 100 on the Top Universities by Reputation 2011 list published by Times Higher Education. The list—which looks solely at the reputations of institutions for teaching and research—was based on survey responses from more than 13,000 academics in 131 countries assessing hundreds of disciplines at more than 6,000 institutions worldwide.
• MSU was ranked as one of the nation’s 50 “best value” public universities by the Princeton Review, an education services company, based on criteria including academics, cost of attendance, and financial aid. In selecting MSU, the Princeton Review noted, among other things, the university’s Undergraduate Research Initiative, Freshman Seminars program, and dedication to financial aid. Administrators and students at 650 colleges were surveyed for the rankings, which were announced in USA Today in February 2011.
• MSU's increasingly good value is reflected in Kiplinger’s 2011 edition of Best Values in Public Colleges, which ranks MSU 39th among public universities for in-state students—a ranking that has improved steadily from 85th in 2007. Kiplinger bases its rankings entirely on measureable criteria such as student–faculty ratio, admission rate, graduation rate, cost, and financial aid.
• Rankings compiled at the University of Western Australia list MSU among the top 50 universities in the world based on research performance, including publications and citations. These rankings also list MSU among the top 50 universities in the categories of arts, humanities, business, and social sciences and engineering, computing, and technology and in the top 100 in the areas of medicine and the health sciences and pure, natural, and mathematical sciences.
• MSU was recognized in the Princeton Review's 2012 Guide to 322 Green Colleges, which salutes "the nation's most environmentally responsible 'green colleges.'" The guide is produced in collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council.
• The Institute for Scientific Information included 27 MSU faculty members on its most recent list of "Highly Cited" researchers. Individuals on the list are among the top 250 researchers worldwide in their respective fields in terms of the number of citations to research published between 1981 and 2007 and represent about half of 1 percent of all researchers in the sciences and social sciences.
• The U.S. Department of Energy has selected MSU to design and establish the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, also known as FRIB," a $615 million facility that will advance understanding of rare nuclear isotopes and the evolution of the cosmos as it provides research opportunities for scientists and students from around the globe. A world leader in rare isotope research, Michigan State has been committed to advancing accelerator-based sciences for more than 50 years.
• MSU is one of the nation's top five campuses for sustainability, according to the National Wildlife Federation's Campus Environment 2008 Report Card. The report also indicates that MSU has the greatest number of exemplary programs in sustainability among colleges and universities in Michigan.
• MSU is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, a group of only 61 U.S. and two Canadian universities widely regarded as among the top research-intensive institutions in North America.
• MSU is one of the "top colleges for business," according to Entrepreneur magazine. The October 2009 issue features MSU and East Lansing as one of the 10 leading examples of "universities and cities that are linking up in creative entrepreneurial initiatives."
• MSU is the only university in the country with three on-campus medical schools, graduating allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) physicians, as well as veterinarians. As the university extends the College of Human Medicine and the College of Osteopathic Medicine to new areas of the state, MSU will be among the largest universities in the United States in terms of the number of medical school graduates.
• More than 15,200 MSU students were engaged in service-learning activities during the 2008–09 academic year, working with 370 community-service organizations and agencies. Half of them were enrolled in courses that include a service-learning component.
• MSU continues its outstanding record of students earning prestigious national and international scholarships with the naming of a Udall Scholar and two Goldwater Scholars in 2011. The total scholarship count at MSU now stands at: Goldwater, 30; Rhodes, 16; Churchill, 16; Truman, 16; Marshall, 14; Udall, nine; Hollings, six; Gates, three; and Mitchell, one.
• MSU is 14th among the top places to work in academia, according to a 2010 survey by The Scientist magazine. Respondents cited job satisfaction and tenure/promotion opportunities as the university’s greatest strengths.
• The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2007 selected MSU as one of the first universities to be designated as a "community-engaged university" using its new Community Engagement Classification, which recognizes curricular engagement as well as outreach and partnerships.

U.S. News & World Report's 2012 editions of America's Best Colleges and America's Best Graduate Schools rankings

• MSU’s undergraduate supply chain program ranks first in the nation. Other top-ranked undergraduate programs in the Eli Broad College of Business, which ranks 24th among U.S. business schools, are production/operations management, ranked 12th; accounting, ranked 14th; and marketing, ranked 19th.
• MSU's graduate programs in elementary and secondary education rank first in the nation for the 17th year in a row. The College of Education ranks 17th in the nation, with six other graduate programs ranking in the top 20:
  • Curriculum and instruction, No. 2
  • Rehabilitation counseling, No. 2
  • Educational psychology, No. 4
  • Higher education administration, No. 4
  • Administration and supervision, No. 8
  • Education policy, No. 11
• MSU's graduate program in nuclear physics in the College of Natural Science ranks first in the nation. The university's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory is the nation's premier rare isotope research facility.
• MSU's graduate program in industrial and organizational psychology in the College of Social Science ranks first in the nation. Three other graduate programs in the college rank in the top 20: African history, No. 3; criminology, No. 7; and econometrics, No. 13.
• MSU's graduate program in supply chain and logistics in the Eli Broad College of Business ranks second in the nation. Two other graduate programs in the college rank in the top 20: international, No. 12; and accounting, No. 20.
• MSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine ranks 14th in the nation in the primary care category. The college's graduate program in family medicine ranks No. 19.
• MSU's College of Veterinary Medicine ranks ninth in the nation.
• MSU's graduate program in biological and agricultural engineering in the College of Engineering ranks 12th in the nation.

Additional top academic programs, centers, and initiatives

• MSU’s Eli Broad College of Business was ranked sixth among public schools and 19th overall—up two spots from 2009—by Forbes in its 2011 biennial ranking of full-time MBA programs. The rankings are based on return on investment, calculated as compensation five years after graduation minus tuition and salary not earned while in school.
• MSU earned the No. 5 spot in North America in the Princeton Review’s list of Top Schools for Video Game Design Study for 2011. MSU, which offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees with specialized curriculum in video game design and development, was the only school in the Midwest and east of Utah to be listed in the top five.
• MSU was the top-cited university in an assessment by ScienceWatch.com of all papers published in hadron physics in the last decade. MSU—with 13,893 citations—placed fifth overall following four national laboratories located in the United States, Europe, and Russia. The most cited paper—with 772 citations—was the work of six MSU authors, and the second most cited paper was published by a collaboration including a member from MSU.
• MSU’s Eli Broad College of Business vaulted into the top 20 of American business schools—its highest ranking ever—in the most recent biennial rankings by Bloomberg Businessweek. According to “The Best U.S. B-Schools of 2010,” the Broad College ranks 20th overall and seventh among public universities. Student satisfaction was a major factor in the Broad College’s ranking. The college placed 13th in the Graduate Poll, 32nd in the Corporate Poll, and 39th in Intellectual Capital—the three elements that made up the ranking.
• Of the 141 medical schools in an Annals of Internal Medicine study, MSU's College of Human Medicine ranked sixth overall for social mission—defined as producing doctors who are minorities, practice primary care, or work in underserved areas—and seventh for underrepresented minorities in its student population.
• The MSU team of chemistry senior Carly Wunderlich (Brookfield, Wisconsin) and international relations junior Eric Lanning (Spring, Texas) was named the champion of the 64th annual National Debate Tournament March 23, 2010. This is the third MSU team to earn the honor in seven years.
• MSU’s W. K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) pasture-based facility, featuring robotic milking and an energy-efficient design, was recognized with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, silver certification. It is the only U.S. agricultural operation to earn such certification, which requires a newly constructed facility to be at least 15 percent more energy efficient than current building codes dictate. The KBS dairy facility is 38 percent more energy efficient.
• In 2007, MSU launched the first doctoral program in Chicano/Latino studies in the Midwest and only the second in the nation. The interdisciplinary degree is offered by the College of Social Science.
• The media and information studies doctoral program in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences was ranked second in the mass communication category by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
• MSU's Department of Computer Science and Engineering was ranked 18th in the nation among all computer science graduate programs in an article published in the June 2007 issue of Communications of the ACM—the flagship magazine of the Association for Computing Machinery.
• MSU's student radio station, WDBM-FM, was named the college radio station of the year by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters and Broadcast Music Inc. in 2010, continuing a decadelong record of recognition.
• MSU is one of only four universities across the country asked by the Carnegie Annenberg, Rockefeller, and Ford foundations to take part in the Teachers for a New Era initiative, which is designed to strengthen K–12 teaching by developing state-of-the-art programs in teacher education.
• MSU was awarded a $25 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish the NSF Science and Technology Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, one of five such NSF centers. The Bio/computational Evolution in Action Consortium, or BEACON for short, will study evolution in both natural and virtual settings.
• Construction for MSU’s Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum began March 16, 2010, with a groundbreaking for the building, designed by world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid. The facility is named in honor of Eli and Edythe Broad, longtime supporters of the university who provided the $28 million lead gift for the museum. The three-level, 46,000-square-foot building, to be located at the corner of Grand River Avenue and the Farm Lane campus entrance, will be formally dedicated in fall 2012.
• MSU's College of Nursing was awarded nearly $7.45 million in federal stimulus money from the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research Resources. The funding will enable relocation of the college's Nursing Research Center and faculty into the Bott Building for Nursing Education and Research. The $17.6 million building effort also has secured $10.15 million in other support, including a $7 million commitment from the Timothy and Bernadette Marquez Foundation. MSU is expected to break ground this summer on the building, which is named after the family of Bernadette Bott Marquez, who graduated from MSU in 1980 with a nursing degree.
• With accreditation from the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, MSU's nurse anesthesia program in the College of Nursing becomes the fifth such program in the state, enabling the college to help address a shortage in a critical area of health care.
• MSU leads U.S. universities in the number of African language courses offered and in the number of different African languages taught.
• MSU offers 26 study abroad programs in Africa, more than any other U.S. university, and more than 1,300 MSU students have studied in Africa since 1992. MSU faculty members work on scores of projects in 32 African nations—more than half the countries on the continent.
• MSU's Eli Broad Graduate School of Management is the only nonmilitary institution that uses the U.S. Department of Defense's Dynamic Distributed Decision-making Simulation for both teaching and research.
• The first major university in the United States with a dean of international programs, MSU now has nearly 1,500 faculty members involved in international research, teaching, and service projects and programs in more than 175 countries.
• Because of the success of MSU's background check system developed for long-term care facilities in Michigan, it is being used as a model for the rest of the country in legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate.
• MSU and the University of Wisconsin–Madison are partnering in the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center with $125 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, focusing on the conversion of plant biomass to bioenergy.
• MSU is the leader in a research project funded by a $10 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security to create the Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment, a consortium of scientists from seven universities with expertise in quantitative microbial risk assessment methods, biosecurity, and infectious disease transmission through environmental exposure.
• MSU has joined with the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago to establish a Physics Frontier Center for Nuclear Astrophysics funded by a five-year, $10 million National Science Foundation grant.
• MSU's Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health is one of the country's premier and busiest veterinary diagnostic laboratories. From just over 9,700 cases when it first opened in 1973, the facility now handles 220,000 cases and more than 1.2 million diagnostic tests per year.
• As Michigan's land-grant institution, MSU is home to AgBioResearch, which funds the research of nearly 400 scientists who conduct research in on-campus facilities and at 14 outlying research centers across the state.
• MSU and the 11 other members of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) are digitizing select collections across all their libraries—up to as many as 10 million volumes—as part of the Google Book Search project. In addition to MSU, CIC members are the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois, Indiana University, the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.