AMES, Iowa — Iowa State University’s programs in agriculture and forestry and in veterinary science have been ranked among the world’s best by a British organization’s latest ratings.
For the third straight year, Iowa State was ranked in the top 10 for programs in agriculture and forestry by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), which today released its annual ranking by subject. This year Iowa State ranked eighth worldwide and sixth nationally. Last year the worldwide ranking was fifth and two years ago it was tenth.
This year QS included veterinary science in its rankings for the first time. ISU’s veterinary science program ranked 35th in the world and 16th nationally.
“Iowa State’s agriculture and veterinary programs have long been magnets for top students and faculty from around the world, and this honor is a direct reflection of their achievements,” said President Steven Leath. “The rankings also showcase the impact of our teaching and research in addressing the global challenges of food security and animal health.”
The QS ranking measures academic and employer reputations; faculty research papers cited by other researchers; and a measure of the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar. The ranking is online.
“We’re proud to be recognized by this ranking. Our students, faculty and staff are the reason we do so well. They are the ones who do excellent work every day that has been noticed,” said Wendy Wintersteen, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
“The contributions of our students, faculty and staff to our mission of teaching, research and service help continue and enhance our reputation as an outstanding veterinary college,” said Lisa Nolan, the Stephen G. Juelsgaard Dean of Veterinary Medicine.
QS ranked the University of California at Davis first in both agriculture and forestry and in veterinary science.
Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences set its third consecutive annual enrollment record last fall, with 4,475 undergraduate students, making it the third largest in the country.
The college has a placement rate of 98.4 percent for its recent graduates. Nearly 72 percent begin their careers in Iowa. The college’s Agriculture Career is the largest of its kind in the nation. Last fall’s career day attracted a record 269 employers — 44 more than the previous year — and nearly 2,700 students.
The college offers 27 undergraduate majors preparing students for careers spanning the study of food, environment, energy, climate, nutrition and science and technology. The college and its departments offer more than $2 million in scholarships to students each year.
Each year the college provides a global perspective to more than 400 students through study abroad programs, which in the past year took students to all seven continents.
The Agriculture Experiment Station, administered by the college, is Iowa’s only public agricultural research program and has served the state for more than 125 years. It works to improve food, agriculture and the environment in Iowa. College faculty successfully competed for more than $60 million in awards last year in sponsored funding to conduct basic and applied research.
Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension and Outreach helped farmers and agribusiness professionals make informed decisions in their operations through more than 210,000 learning opportunities.
The College of Veterinary Medicine was the nation’s first public veterinary school and one of only 30 veterinary colleges in the United States.
The college focuses on animal and human health, food safety and animal welfare to the benefit of animal agriculture, economic development and the health and well-being of humans and animals.
The college is a cornerstone of one of the world’s largest concentrations of animal health professionals, with the USDA’s National Animal Disease Center, the National Services Laboratories and the Center for Veterinary Biologics in Ames.
The Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center is a regional veterinary medical center and teaching hospital that recently underwent a $105 million renovation and expansion of the large and small animal hospitals.
The college is home to the country’s only national center (Swine Medicine Education Center) devoted to swine medicine education.
The college has a state-of-the-art canine rehabilitation program, with Iowa’s only board-certified specialist in canine rehabilitation and sports medicine.
The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory serves Iowa’s $14 billion animal agriculture industry by providing access to timely, high-quality diagnostic testing on 73,000 cases per year.
The Center for Food Security and Public Health offers educational and training programs in foreign and emerging diseases of animals and plants.
For this third edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject, the firm evaluated more than 3,500 universities and ranked 894 of those institutions in 36 subject areas. QS got its start as the data provider for the annual Times (of London) Higher Education rankings and now produces its own university rankings.