In the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings of universities offering a Ph.D. in engineering, the College of Engineering at Wichita State University is again ranked in the top 100 engineering graduate programs, the only institution from the state of Kansas to make it in the top 100.
The 2021 rankings by U.S. News and World Report are based on a number of factors including reputation among peer institutions and industry recruiters, student selectivity, faculty resources and research expenditures – an area where Wichita State far outperforms peers. A recently released National Science Foundation report of FY2018 total engineering research expenditures ranked Wichita State 54th in the nation, well ahead of any other institution in Kansas.
Impressively, Wichita State’s rank – 94th – is tied with a number of state “flagship” universities, including the University of Missouri, the University of Kentucky and the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. This is particularly noteworthy given Wichita State’s urban-serving role. In fact, less than a third of the top 100 engineering programs – Wichita State included – are located in one of the country’s 200 largest cities.
“These rankings confirm that Wichita State is not only the best value proposition for an engineering education in the state of Kansas, our high level of research activity rightfully places us among the best in the nation,” said Dennis Livesay, dean of the College of Engineering. “It verifies that we are living up to our designation as Kansas’ only urban public research university by providing an affordable education to our community and by helping industry solve its most pressing issues through research.”
The ranking is tied to $63.3 million in industry and government-funded engineering research done at Wichita State. The latest NSF ranking also places Wichita State fourth in total aerospace engineering research dollars, just ahead of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) generates a significant amount of the university's R&D funding to perform industry and government certification testing and research. The university as a whole recently set a new record for total research and development awards in FY2019 with a total of $136.7 million, a record driven by an unprecedented $57 million in Department of Defense awards.
Wichita State is distinctive for opening pathways to applied learning, applied research and career opportunities, alongside unsurpassed classroom, laboratory and online education. The university's beautiful 330-acre main campus is a supportive, rapidly expanding learn-work-live-play environment, where students gain knowledge and credentials to prepare for fulfilling lives and careers. Students enjoy a wide selection of day, evening and summer courses in more than 200 areas of study at the main campus and other locations throughout the metro area and online. WSU's approximately 16,000 students come from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 other countries. Wichita State's Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university's vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wichitastate and Facebook at www.facebook.com/wichita.state.