U.S. News and World Report released its annual university rankings Aug. 22, naming UW-Madison seventh among public universities and 32nd among all universities nationwide.
The rankings reflected selectivity, peer assessments, graduation rates, faculty resources, financial resources and alumni donations.
Tied with UW-Madison for 32nd is the University of California-San Diego and Brandeis University.
While UW-Madison's standing beat New York University's by one spot, it fell short of the College of William and Mary, which ranked 31st. Overall, 248 doctoral universities were rated.
UW-Madison's new rankings mirrored last year's list almost exactly, which put the university at seventh and 31st, respectively.
UW-Madison sophomore Adam Cohen drowned Aug. 12 while he and two friends tried to rescue David Altschuler, an incoming freshman at UW-Madison, from the river at Camp Baco in Hewlett, New York.
Despite Cohen's years of competitive swimming, he and the others could not compete with the river and rain.
All four of the victims were counselors at Camp Baco and were at the river on their day off. More than a dozen counselors witnessed the drownings.
