Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute this week was ranked 23rd on the 2012 list of Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs by U.S. News & World Report. This ranking was announced alongside the overall placement of Rensselaer as 41st on the annual U.S. News list of the nation’s top universities.

“The undergraduate engineering program at Rensselaer is known for the quality of its educational programs, the impact of its research, and the success of its graduates. We are the oldest technological university in the United States, yet our undergraduate engineering programs continue to be at the leading edge, innovative, and highly relevant. This latest ranking by U.S. News further affirms the high quality of our programs and the value proposition of an engineering degree from Rensselaer. We are tremendously pleased to be recognized as among the top 25 undergraduate engineering programs in the nation,” said David Rosowsky, dean of the School of Engineering at Rensselaer.

The U.S. News ranking is the latest in a number of recent external surveys recognizing engineering at Rensselaer. In July, industry-focused website Business Insider ranked Rensselaer fourth on its list of “World’s Best Engineering Schools.” The rankings were based on surveys of engineers, professionals, and entrepreneurs working at technology companies.

Founded in 1824, Rensselaer is the oldest technology university in the English-speaking world. For nearly two centuries, the Institute has been a driving force behind breakthroughs in engineering and science in virtually every arena—from transportation and telecommunications to business, medicine, outer space, and cyberspace.

Today, 3,000 undergraduate students and 700 graduate students are enrolled in the School of Engineering at Rensselaer, and 70 percent of incoming first-year engineering students were in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class. The School of Engineering’s seven academic departments offer 30 different degree programs. Research conducted at Rensselaer addresses some of the world’s most pressing technological challenges—from energy security and sustainable development to biotechnology and human health—and the School of Engineering’s 165 faculty members are at the leading edge of their fields. The engineering faculty’s annual research expenditures total more than $50 million.

The School of Engineering is one of five schools at Rensselaer, through which students at all levels are engaged in and researching a wide array of critical 21^st-century challenges. In addition to Engineering, the university offers more than 145 programs at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels in the schools of Science; Architecture; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; and the Lally School of Management & Technology; as well as an interdisciplinary degree in Information Technology.

For more information on the School of Engineering at Rensselaer, visit: http://eng.rpi.edu/soe