Additional Points of Pride

Recent U.S. News and World Report rankings provide a view into public perception of St. Thomas:

• No. 115 among 268 schools in the National Universities category—an improvement from No. 124 in 2010 and No. 137 in 2009 and ahead of Catholic universities such as Duquesne, Loyola of Chicago, San Francisco, DePaul, Seton Hall and St. John’s of New York.
• No. 80 among National Universities ranked by high school counselors.
• No. 51 of 193 engineering programs offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees but not doctorates.
• No. 52 of 206 schools of social work that offer master’s degrees.
• No. 104 of 448 business schools. The Opus College of Business became eligible for graduate rankings this year for the first time because of its 2011 AACSB accreditation.

The Institute of International Education ranks St. Thomas among the leading American institutions for undergraduate students who study abroad. The institute’s most recent study ranks St. Thomas’ participation rate of 61.8 percent as fifth nationally among doctoral institutions.

Princeton Review lists the St. Thomas School of Law as eighth in the nation for “Best Professors,” and for five of the last six years recognized the School of Law in the top four nationally for “Best Quality of Life” among students (2004–2009), No. 1 in the country for having the most externship placements per student (2010 and 2011) and No. 1 for five straight years for the percentage of alumni contributing to annual giving campaigns. The School of Law also ranked second in a recent study measuring faculty productivity based on publications in top law journals. An earlier study ranked the law faculty 38th in the country in terms of scholarly impact, as measured by the frequency with which faculty members are cited by other scholars.

Princeton Review also lists St. Thomas in its edition of “Green Colleges,” recognizing its receipt of the Xcel Energy 2011 Efficiency Partner Award for its use of Windsource to power its St. Paul campus, the Anderson Student Center’s application for LEED silver certification, and its plentiful green student organizations, among many others.

St. Thomas has received international attention for its Asmat art collection. The American Museum of Asmat Art, located in the university’s student center, is a collection of more than 2,000 pieces— ranging from sculptures to fiber arts to shields—created by the Asmat people of Papua, Indonesia.

Out of 1,000 NCAA institutions at the Division I, II and III levels, St. Thomas is the only one to have won at least one NCAA team championship each in baseball, softball and men’s and women’s basketball. This past year, the Tommies won their fifth consecutive Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference all-sports titles in both men’s and women’s sports by capturing a record 13 (of 22) regular season titles, and finished eighth in the NCAA Division III Directors Cup competition.