Florida schools gain ground

Nine universities make U.S. News college rankings

Florida’s universities are gaining ground in the closely watched U.S. News & World Report rankings.

Nine universities in the state made this year’s list of 230 top National Colleges, up from seven last year.

The University of Florida in Gainesville was ranked one of the top 10 public universities in the country for the first time. On the list of all national colleges, it ranked 42nd, up from 50th last year.

Florida International University in Miami and Florida A&M University in Tallahassee were ranked for the first time this year, with FIU placing at 216 and FAMU at 207.

Three public universities improved from last year’s rankings: Florida State University in Tallahassee (92 to 81); University of South Florida in Tampa (159 to 140) and the University of Central Florida (176 to 171).

Two private colleges made big leaps on the survey: Nova Southeastern University in Davie (214 to 198) and the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne (171 to 151).

The University of Miami, often the top-rated school in the state, slipped from 44th to 46th and is now the second highest ranked school in Florida behind UF.

Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton remained unranked this year.

The rankings are based on factors such as graduation and retention rates, faculty-to-student ratio, selectivity in admissions, alumni giving