Leaders of Fresno State are optimistic after U.S. News and World Reports ranked the college eighth among public regional colleges in the West.

Fresno State improved its ranking by one spot compared to last year. The poll ranked colleges on “16 indicators of academic excellence,” according to the U.S. News website.

President Joseph Castro says the ranking is encouraging, but that his ultimate goal is to see the college at the top of the list.

“Student success is our highest priority and this achievement is a strong indicator that the efforts of our faculty and staff are paying off,” Castro said in a press release.

The high ranking for the college also impressed Daniel Ward, ASI senator-at-large for academic affairs.
“I think it’s right up there with having a top-25 ranked football team,” Ward said. “And even more important than football is the academics that we provide students with the skills and the education necessary to impact here in the Valley, and this community we call home.”

However, the U.S. News rankings only compared Fresno State to a specific group of other colleges. The rankings were categorized by types of schools, geographic region and only included public schools.

Fresno State is categorized as a regional university. The poll defines regional universities as schools with baccalaureate programs, a variety of master’s degree programs, but relatively few, if any, doctoral programs.

Accordingly, Fresno State was not competing with any University of California schools, which offer a broader array of post-graduate programs. Those schools fall under the national university category. University of California, Berkeley claimed the top spot in the Western region.

Fresno State was in competition with many other California State University schools and it was ranked fifth best.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo snagged the No. 1 spot amongst regional public universities in the west and CSU schools.

The rankings were also categorized by four regions.

Fresno State falls into what the poll considers the West. This region includes California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii.

Lastly, private schools were not considered in Fresno State’s eighth place ranking. Taking into account those schools, Fresno State ranks 36th in the poll.

Another poll by Washington Monthly also had high marks for Fresno State, ranking it 15th among master’s degree colleges nationwide. The poll rates a college by its “contribution to the public good.”

Washington Monthly’s poll scored colleges based on recruiting and graduating low-income students, producing cutting-edge scholarships and encouraging students to perform civil service.