As Florida State University continues its meteoric rise to No. 26 among public universities in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, FSU’s College of Arts and Sciences has played an important role in the university’s climb to national preeminence.

Class size and student-faculty ratio are key metrics used by U.S. News in determining its rankings. In both areas, the College of Arts and Sciences — FSU’s largest college, with approximately 8,700 undergraduate and 1,800 graduate students as of 2017 — has led the way, thanks to multi-year efforts to increase faculty ranks while reducing class sizes.

From the 2011-12 academic year to 2017-18, Arts and Sciences increased its total number of tenured and tenure-track faculty from 416 to 473. This has helped improve the student-to-faculty ratio.

“The impact of these faculty hires is magnified when one considers that nearly every FSU undergraduate student takes courses in the College of Arts of Sciences as part of his or her core general education requirements,” said Sam Huckaba, dean of the college. “In fact, approximately 47 percent of all FSU undergraduate credit hours are earned within the college.”

As the oldest college at Florida State, Arts and Sciences has provided generations of students with instruction in the core academic disciplines that are essential for intellectual development and personal growth: the humanities, broadly defined; and the physical, life and mathematical sciences. Arts and Sciences counts more than 90,000 FSU grads among its alumni.

“Graduates of the college are well equipped to pursue their professional goals. Critical thinking, analytical reasoning and superb communication skills are bedrock for our alumni and enhance the deep training received by pursuing a core academic major,” Huckaba said.

With its influx of new faculty, the university has been creating smaller classes that focus on formative experiences, engaged learning and post-graduation preparation. Class-size numbers are expected to continue to improve with the help of 240 new faculty who arrived at FSU this fall. In the College of Arts and Sciences, the hiring of additional faculty has already yielded dividends in terms of smaller freshman-level courses, among others.

“Our faculty and staff have worked tirelessly during the past year to add over 400 smaller-sized sections that were offered this fall,” Huckaba said. “This is a component of our continuous efforts to improve student success not just for A&S students, but for all FSU students.”

“Florida State University is one of the best universities in the nation, and we are excited that U.S. News & World Report recognizes our academic excellence,” FSU President John Thrasher said of the new rankings. “Student success is at the heart of our mission at Florida State, and these rankings are a reflection of that commitment.”

A video statement from Thrasher can be viewed here.