The University of Washington was tied for third among American public research universities and 12th among both public and private institutions, in a recent report by the Center for Measuring University Performance.

The center ranked universities on nine different measures:

• Total research
• Federal research
• Endowment assets
• Annual giving
• National academy members
• Faculty awards
• Doctorates granted
• Postdoctoral appointees
• SAT/ACT range

The top three public universities in this ranking are University of California, Berkeley; University of Michigan; and University of California, Los Angeles. The overall top-ranked university was Columbia. The UW's ranking is unchanged from last year.

The center states that, in ranking universities, "research matters more than anything else in defining the best institutions. While dollars provide a good approximation of research activity, it is the faculty who provide the critical resource for university success...."

The full report is available at http://mup.asu.edu/research2007.pdf.

The University of Washington has been the top public recipient of federal research dollars every year since 1974 and has been in the top five among all public and private institutions since 1969.