Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has risen in its rankings among all national universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report list of “America’s Best Colleges,” weighing in at 41st, up from 44th last year. This is the ninth year in a row Rensselaer has been counted among the top 50 universities in the nation.

Rensselaer’s undergraduate engineering program continues to be rated among the top 25 in the country. Three of the Institute’s engineering specialty programs — biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering — were also ranked in the top 25. 

The Lally School of Management & Technology climbed 16 spots in the rankings this year from 59th to 43rd. Earlier this year, BusinessWeek ranked the Lally School 26th overall in the nation among the magazine’s 2008 list of top 50 undergraduate business programs, and it listed the Lally School as number one in the nation in the area of corporate strategy.

“We are proud that Rensselaer is once again ranked among the leading 50 universities in the nation,” said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. “We are educating the next generation of leaders: researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, executives, and thought leaders, who will frame the important questions, who will meet and resolve the challenges of the 21st century, who will change the world. The most important affirmation of our success is the quality, intellectual breadth, and personal commitment of the stellar students who have chosen to enroll at Rensselaer.”

In this year’s listing, the Institute’s faculty resource rank reached an all-time high, jumping 13 points from the previous year. The faculty resource rank is meant to gauge a school’s commitment to instruction by analyzing factors such as class size, student-faculty ratio, and faculty salaries and benefits. 

As a new feature this year, U.S. News asked guidance counselors from around the country to rate which national universities offer the best education to their students. Rensselaer received a score of 4.2 out of 5.0, placing it in a tie for 34th with several other institutions. The guidance counselor scores were not used in the algorithm to determine the overall “Best Colleges” ranking, but were provided on the Web site as a supplement.

In addition to the academic rankings, Rensselaer was once again featured in the publication’s “Great Schools, Great Prices” category, and the Institute was highlighted in two categories of “Programs to Look For”: First-Year Experience and Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects.

The rankings can be accessed online at www.usnews.com and will be available on newsstands Monday, Aug. 25.