Rensselaer reports that U.S. News and World Report has again ranked RPI as one of the Top 50 universities in the nation in its America's Best Colleges issue, which was published in September. The Undergraduate Engineering program was ranked 15th in 2003, up from 17th last year. In the rankings of Best Values in the National Universities category, Rensselaer ranked 34th, an improvement of 8 places from 2002.

The RPI press release lists a number of significant achievements accomplished recently that contributed to the improvement in ratings: 41 new faculty members hired, 22 in engineering, a complete student union renovation, a new fitness center, and $35 million in residence hall renovations.