From a parking lot at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, ASU President Michael Crow had something important to share: his license plate reading "INOVA8" taking on a new meaning now the University was named No. 1 in innovation by U.S. News & World Report for the eighth year in a row.
The announcement and Crow's license plate featured the number "was kind of funny," he said. "Anyway, I just want to say congratulations to the whole ASU community."
The University has maintained this position since the most innovate schools category was created by U.S. News & World Report eight years ago.
The following four schools below ASU in the rankings were Georgia State University, Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.
According to U.S. News & World Report’s Most Innovative Schools Methodology, universities are judged by who is “making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities.”
The rankings are created based on the critiques of university presidents, provosts and deans who nominate up to 15 universities or colleges for the most innovative school category.
ASU dropped in rankings for national universities, first-year experiences, top public schools and best undergraduate teaching.
For national universities, ASU's ranking dropped from 117th to 121st, tying with Chapman University, Temple University, University of Kansas, University of Missouri and University of Vermont.
ASU previously was ranked No. 10 for first-year experiences but now ranks 23rd, tied with Alverno College, Belmont University, Davidson College, and Williams College.
The institution also fell from 54th to 56th in the top public schools' category, tying with the University of Vermont, University of Missouri, University of Kansas and Temple University.
Last year ASU ranked No. 10 in best undergraduate teaching. ASU dropped to 18th in this year's rankings. The University is tied with Harvard University and Miami University
However, the University saw a rise in its ranking for best undergraduate engineering programs as they went from 36th to 33th, tying with nine other universities and colleges.
Edited by Jasmine Kabiri, Logan Stanley and Kristen Apolline Castillo.
Reach the reporter at caera@asu.edu and follow @CaeraLearmonth on Twitter.
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Caera Learmonth is a full-time reporter for the Community and Culture desk. She was previously the Executive Editor of her high school newspaper and has taken journalism programs at the School of the New York Times and University of Southern California.
