University of Florida ranked No. 1 amongst public institutions in the nation: WSJ

The University of Florida has been named the No. 1 public university in the country, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Though it's not the first time the school has been recognized for its academic success, it's the first time UF has received top honors. UF is also tied for fifth best public university by U.S. News & World Report.

UF Board of Trustees chairman Mori Hosseini said in a press release that the school's success comes from being bold and taking risks.

“I’ve always believed that giving our students an amazing education and sending them out into the world with the tools they need to succeed is our No. 1 job," he said. "Now we’ve been recognized as being No. 1 for doing that. The people of the great state of Florida can take great pride in knowing that their tax dollars are well spent at the University of Florida.”

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This year's ranking list, titled “Best Colleges in the U.S.," is the eighth one released by WSJ since it began in 2016.

The methodology changed this year and puts an emphasis on how institutions prepare students for real-world outcomes, which made up 70% of the scoring. It factors in the cost of tuition, the chance of graduation and potential salary increase throughout graduates' careers.

Learning environment was calculated at 20%, while diversity was least considered at 10%.

The WSJ worked with College Pulse, an online research and survey company, and Statista, a data gathering and statistics platform, to factor in post-graduation situations.

The newspaper obtained needed information by analyzing government data and combining that with responses from – what the WSJ calls – the largest-ever independent survey of students in the country.

“So much of our university’s reputation comes down to our post-graduation student outcomes and the kind of leaders we are producing,” said UF President Ben Sasse in the release. “UF alumni are changing the world.”

With its beginnings in 1853, UF opened its doors in 1906 with 102 students but has now become Florida’s oldest and top-ranked higher education institution. It has an enrollment of over 60,000 students a year and offers 16 colleges and over 180 research centers and institutes.

“The University of Florida has done incredible things, and we’re not slowing down,” Sasse said in the release. “We are committed to providing an elite education that is radically practical. Graduating young men and women who are prepared for success in life may be the single most important thing we do as a university, and to be recognized as the best public university in the country is a huge honor. That goes right to the heart of what a public, land-grant, flagship institution like UF should be doing and what the state of Florida has entrusted us with.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: University of Florida ranked top public institution by Wall Street Journal