UF Third Among Public Institutions In National Merit Recruits

January 24, 2001

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida once again has placed among the nation’s top schools in recruiting National Merit and National Achievement scholars during the past year, according to recently released rankings.

With 166 National Merit scholars recruited, UF was third among 148 public institutions and sixth out of 381 participating schools nationwide, the rankings show.

“UF’s third-place ranking among public institutions is quite remarkable and a real tribute to the hard work of the Office of Admissions, the Honors Ambassadors, the staff in the University Honors Program, Gator Clubs and all individuals across campus who helped us recruit these outstanding students,” said Sheila Dickison, associate provost for undergraduate education and director of the Honors Program.

The public institution ranking is an improvement over last year’s fourth place, while the nationwide ranking also jumped a spot from seventh place in the previous year.

UF Provost David Colburn also was happy with the latest report.

“I am very pleased that National Merit scholars continue to see the University of Florida as one of the leading institutions in the nation to pursue their undergraduate studies,” he said. “I believe this is a reflection on the quality of our faculty and the educational and research opportunities that exist at this University.”

Merit Scholars are selected from more than 15,000 semifinalists nationally by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. The students scored in the top one-half percent of high school seniors in their state on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test-National Merit Scholar Qualifying Test.

The top 10 ranked public institutions, followed by the number of recruited Merit Scholars, are:

1. University of Texas at Austin — 245

1. University of California, Berkeley — 245

3. University of Florida — 166

4. Texas A&M University — 142

5. UNC, Chapel Hill — 137

6. University of Oklahoma — 132

7. Arizona State University — 119

8. University of Kansas — 116

9. Iowa State University — 113

10. Ohio State University — 110

Within Florida, the Merit Scholar rankings are:

1. University of Florida — 166

2. Florida State University — 39

3. University of Central Florida — 30

4. University of South Florida — 16

5. University of Miami — 12

6. Stetson University — 2

7. Florida Atlantic University — 1

7. Rollins College — 1

7. Palm Beach Atlantic College — 1

In National Achievement scholar recruiting, UF ranked sixth this year out of 145 participating schools across the country and second among the 69 public schools. The National Achievement Scholars program recognizes minority students who place well on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The top 10 ranked participating schools, followed by the number of recruited Achievement scholars, are:

1. Harvard/Radcliffe Colleges — 62

1. Florida A&M University — 62

3. Howard University — 46

4. Stanford University — 35

5. Yale University — 29

6. University of Florida — 28

7. MIT — 25

8. Washington University — 23

9. University of S. California — 22

10. New York University — 19

Within Florida, only seven schools recruited Achievement Scholars. Their rankings are:

1. Florida A&M University — 62

2. University of Florida — 28

3. Florida State University — 15

4. University of Miami — 8

5. University of South Florida — 3

6. University of Central Florida — 2

7. Rollins College — 1