For the first time ever, RIT is a National University

Thanks to an increase in research activities and Ph.D graduates, RIT’s new “Doctoral University” status has landed them placement amongst national university rankings in the 2017 U.S News & World Report Best Colleges.

According to the report, RIT is ranked 107th in the “National Universities” category out of 310 schools. Previously, all ranking for the school appeared in the regional category. With numerous undergraduate majors, a healthy presence of faculty research, and a growing master’s and Ph.D. program, the school finally qualified for this change.

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education changed RIT’s status from “Masters – Comprehensive” to “Doctoral University” when they graduated more than 20 Ph.D. degrees per the given year. In May, RIT awarded 35 doctoral degrees across seven Ph.D. programs for the first time in it’s history.

With seven existing Ph.D. programs and a new program in mathematical modeling set to begin in Fall 2017, it looks like RIT won’t lose this status anytime soon.