‘We’re top tier’

• By JORDAN BLUM
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Aug 22, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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After years of falling short, LSU narrowly cracked the top tier of “Best National Universities” for 2009, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual colleges guide released today.

Southern University also broke into the top tier of “America’s Best Black Colleges” in the second year of U.S. News scoring historically black colleges and universities.

LSU ranks in a four-way tie for 130th out of 130 in the top tier nationally, while Southern comes in 30th out of 33 in the historically black colleges and universities top tier.

Harvard University leads the national rankings followed by Princeton University. LSU still ranks 10th in the 12-school Southeastern Conference.

Tulane University in New Orleans ranks 51st, making it the only other Louisiana school in the top tier.

Full details of the rankings are not being released until later today.

LSU President Emeritus William Jenkins said the news of LSU moving up made his day. Jenkins has served as LSU’s chancellor and system president for years before retiring last month.

“This is the cherry on top,” Jenkins said Thursday. “The fact of the matter is I can now say we’re a top-tier university and that means a lot.”

At Southern, new Chancellor Kofi Lomotey said he is “extremely pleased” to move in to the top tier of black colleges after being in the second grouping last year.

“I believe Southern should be higher, but it is on Southern to demonstrate that,” Lomotey said, citing the need for improvements from academics to customer service. “And I think we will be higher.

“We are going to work tirelessly to continue to move up,” he said.

As for LSU, this time last year both Jenkins and former LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe predicted LSU would break into the highest tier nationally this year. The jump up represents a milestone for LSU in the rankings, which have been published starting in 1987.

Jenkins said the progress is because of LSU’s state funding reaching the Southern regional average last year, private fundraising growth, higher academic quality of incoming students and more strong faculty members.