Pitt Scores in Chronicle of Higher Education's Almanac Issue 2007-8, Advances in NSF Survey

PITTSBURGH-The University of Pittsburgh made gains in a number of key institutional quality indicators reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education's just-published Almanac Issue 2007-8, dated Aug. 31, which ranks leading American colleges and universities in a number of different categories:

o In the category "Top Institutions in Federal Research-and-Development Expenditures for Science and Engineering," Pitt is ranked 13th nationally in this year's Almanac, up from 14th last year, moving ahead of Harvard University; it continues to outrank Caltech, Cornell University, Duke University, Emory University, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of Minnesota, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale University, among many others, in this category, based upon information supplied by the National Science Foundation (NSF). As part of a related survey, NSF also has just reported that in federal obligations for science and engineering research and development to the 100 universities receiving the largest amounts, Pitt is ranked 11th nationally, up from 12th last year. In this latter ranking, Pitt moved ahead of Washington University in St. Louis and the University of California-San Diego and continues to outrank Cornell University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yale University, among many other schools;

o In the category "College and University Endowments Over $200 Million," Pitt is ranked 28th in this year's Almanac, up from 30th last year, moving ahead of New York University and Rockefeller University; it continues to outrank Caltech, Indiana University and Foundation, the University of Illinois and Foundation, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Foundations, and the University of Wisconsin Foundation, among many others, in this category;

o In the category "Largest Endowments per Student," Pitt is ranked 12th in this year's Almanac among public institutions, up from 15th last year, moving ahead of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Foundations, among others; it continues to outpace such other institutions as Ohio State University and Foundation, the University of Minnesota and related foundations, the University of Washington, and the University of Wisconsin Foundation;

o In the category "Top Institutions in Total Research-and-Development Expenditures for Science and Engineering," Pitt is ranked 23rd in this year's Almanac, up from 24th last year, moving ahead of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; it continues to outrank Emory University, Harvard University, Indiana University, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of Maryland-College Park, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas-Austin, Vanderbilt University, and Yale University, among many others, in this category; and

o Under "Top institutions in awards for basic and applied research" within the category "Defense Department Contracts and Grants to Nonprofit Institutions," Pitt is ranked 26th in this year's Almanac, up from 36th last year, moving ahead of Columbia University, Harvard University, the University of California-Los Angeles, the University of Maryland, and Virginia Tech; it continues to outrank Northwestern and Princeton universities, among others, in this category.

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8/30/07/tmw