萝莉社鈥檚 engineering graduate programs are now the highest ranked in Kansas

Instructor and student

In the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings of universities offering a Ph.D. in engineering, the College of Engineering at 萝莉社is again ranked in the top 100 engineering graduate programs, the only institution from the state of Kansas to make it in the top 100.

The are based on a number of factors including reputation among peer institutions and industry recruiters, student selectivity, faculty resources and research expenditures 鈥 an area where 萝莉社 far outperforms peers. A recently released total engineering research expenditures ranked 萝莉社 54th in the nation, well ahead of any other institution in Kansas.

Impressively, 萝莉社鈥檚 rank 鈥 94th 鈥 is tied with a number of state 鈥渇lagship鈥 universities, including the University of Missouri, the University of Kentucky and the University of Nebraska 鈥 Lincoln. This is particularly noteworthy given Wichita State鈥檚 urban-serving role. In fact, less than a third of the top 100 engineering programs 鈥 萝莉社 included 鈥 are located in one of the country鈥檚 200 largest cities.

鈥淭hese rankings confirm that 萝莉社 is not only the best value proposition for an engineering education in the state of Kansas, our high level of research activity rightfully places us among the best in the nation,鈥 said Dennis Livesay, dean of the College of Engineering. 鈥淚t verifies that we are living up to our designation as Kansas鈥 only urban public research university by providing an affordable education to our community and by helping industry solve its most pressing issues through research.鈥

The ranking is tied to $63.3 million in industry and government-funded engineering research done at 萝莉社. The latest NSF ranking also places 萝莉社 fourth in total aerospace engineering research dollars, just ahead of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) generates a significant amount of the university's R&D funding to perform industry and government certification testing and research. The university as a whole recently set a new record for total research and development awards in FY2019 with a total of $136.7 million, a record driven by an unprecedented $57 million in Department of Defense awards.


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