Published: Aug. 20, 2003

The University of Colorado at Boulder fared well in the U.S. News & World Report's 2004 edition of America's Best Colleges, slated to hit newsstands Aug. 25.

In a ranking of the top 50 public national universities offering doctoral programs out of a total of 162, CU-Boulder was ranked 35th, highest in the Rocky Mountain region. Colorado State University was ranked 54th.

CU-Boulder also was ranked in a tie for 21st in reputation, or peer assessment, among America's top public universities along with the University of California-Irvine and the University of Florida in the 2004 rankings.

The only academic programs ranked by the magazine for the 2004 Best Colleges edition were the business and engineering programs and specialty schools.

Among public undergraduate engineering schools in the United States offering doctorates, CU-Boulder was tied for 17th with the University of California-Davis. The Colorado School of Mines was ranked 27th, tied with six other public universities, while CSU was tied for 34th, also with six other public universities.

In the best public undergraduate business programs offering doctorates, CU-Boulder's Leeds School of Business was ranked 25th, tied with Georgia State University, the University of South Carolina-Columbia and Virginia Tech.

Indicators used by the magazine to rate academic quality included peer assessment, student retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving rate.