U of I ECE department ranks fourth in nation for undergraduate programs

9/10/2004 Tom Moone, ECE Department

The University of Illinois electrical engineering (EE) and computer engineering (CompE) undergraduate programs both ranked fourth in the 2005 U.S. News and World Report America’s Best Colleges survey, which went on sale August 24. The engineering program at the University of Illinois as a whole was tied with the California Institute of Technology for a ranking of fourth nationally.

Written by Tom Moone, ECE Department

Urbana, IL – The University of Illinois electrical engineering (EE) and computer engineering (CompE) undergraduate programs both ranked fourth in the 2005 U.S. News and World Report America’s Best Colleges survey, which went on sale August 24. The engineering program at the University of Illinois as a whole was tied with the California Institute of Technology for a ranking of fourth nationally.

“Though these rankings are a superficial look at our broad programs,” said Seth Hutchinson, ECE associate head for undergraduate affairs, “it’s nice to see the media recognizes that our curriculum is one of the very best in the nation.”

In this year’s survey, ECE’s computer engineering curriculum moved up to a ranking of fourth, having been ranked fifth in last year’s survey. The electrical engineering curriculum maintained its ranking of fourth in the nation.

The U.S News rankings are based upon a peer review of deans and senior faculty. The respondents rated each program with which they were familiar on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). Respondents were also asked to nominate the best programs in specialty areas. The rankings were in two categories: those schools whose highest degree is the PhD, and those schools whose highest degree is the bachelor’s or master’s.

In the recent 2005 U.S. News and World Report America’s Best Grad Schools survey, which came out in the spring, ECE’s computer engineering program was ranked fifth in the nation, and the electrical engineering program was ranked fourth.


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This story was published September 10, 2004.