For Immediate Release —August 20, 2009
Contact:
David Irwin
Media Relations Manager
(585) 245-5516
irwin@geneseo.edu

U.S. News & World Report Names SUNY Geneseo Among 80 Schools Strongly Committed to Undergraduate Teaching

GENESEO, N.Y. – U.S. News & World Report magazine has named the State University of New York at Geneseo among 80 colleges and universities in the country with a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching.  The special list is contained in the magazine’s 2010 rankings of the country’s top colleges and universities.   Geneseo also made another strong showing this year in the magazine’s general rankings.

“These 80 colleges and universities were singled out most often when experts were asked to identify schools where the faculty has an unusual commitment to undergraduate teaching,” notes the magazine in an introduction to the “Strong Commitment to Teaching” list.  The 80 schools on the list are ranked by category and Geneseo is tied for fourth on the list of “Universities -- Master’s” for the North Region.

In the magazine’s general rankings, Geneseo is again ranked second among the “Top Public Universities – Master’s” list for the North Region.  It also ranks 12^th among the “Best Universities – Master’s” list for the same region, a category that combines both public and private institutions in the ranking.  

“We are quite pleased to have this peer validation of our strong focus on undergraduate teaching,” said Christopher C. Dahl, president of SUNY Geneseo.  “That is exactly what we emphasize, and this commitment to teaching is characteristic of our entire faculty.  It is the primary reason we attract strong students and faculty to our campus.”

The “Strong Commitment to Teaching” rankings are based on data gathered from a peer assessment survey in the spring of 2009.  Experts in the survey were asked to identify schools that emphasize the undergraduate teaching aspect of academic life.

“These rankings trumpet Geneseo’s rising tide of academic quality,” said Carol S. Long, provost at Geneseo.  “Student involvement in undergraduate research, for example, is at record levels here and is another indicator of the dedication our faculty has to student success.”

All of this year’s rankings are available online at www.usnews.com and will be in the September 2009 issue of U.S. News & World Report magazine, which will be on newsstands Aug. 24. 

 “We always advise parents and students to use these rankings as just one of many tools when assessing quality,” said Bill Caren, associate vice president for enrollment services at Geneseo.  “Nonetheless, we are pleased with the consistent strong showing Geneseo makes every year, which is substantiated by the increase in academically talented classes we are seeing.”

Geneseo will have 950 entering freshmen when classes start Aug. 31 from an applicant pool of nearly 11,000.  The mean combined SAT score for entering students is 1340 (critical reading + math), an increase from last year’s average of 1326.  The mean high school GPA is 94.  Nearly 60 percent of this year’s freshmen ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, an all-time high for the college.