Awards & Rankings
The University of Dayton, a top-tier national Catholic university, is known for research that improves the human condition and its leadership in community revitalization, urban education reform and curricular initiatives. Here, you will find the world's largest student investment forum and the biggest collection of materials about Mary, the mother of Jesus. Read about our leadership in the areas of:
Academics | Research | Service | Athletics
Academics
U.S. News & World Report
The University of Dayton ranks as a top-tier national university and one of the 10 best Catholic universities in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The University of Dayton received record applications and attracted an incoming class with the best college-entrance test scores in its history in 2008.
Putting Students First: How Colleges Develop Students Purposefully
The University of Dayton is one of 10 religiously affiliated colleges nationally that excels at helping students "find purpose and meaning in life," according to Putting Students First: How Colleges Develop Students Purposefully. "Faculty members at these schools try to stretch students in a community of support and challenge. We found that at (the University of) Dayton. These schools are not boot camps. They honor the dignity of the individual student. They have created a community on campus that fosters holistic development," said co-author Larry Braskamp, professor emeritus of education at Loyola University Chicago.
The Best 366 Colleges, 2008 Edition (published by The Princeton Review)
Academically challenging. Unpretentious. Casual. Fun. Those are some of the adjectives students use to describe the campus in the 2008 edition of The Best 366 Colleges published by The Princeton Review. The book describes UD as a midsize Catholic school that, in the words of one student, "is all about community: community when we study, community when we party, community when we are doing service, community when we pray." Echoed another student: "You are welcome from the very moment you step foot on campus."
National Survey of Student Engagement
According to the 2007 National Survey of Student Engagement, students rate the University of Dayton higher than the national average.
The University received stellar ratings in areas such as level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences and supportive campus environment.
No. 1 in International Student Satisfaction
For two straight years, the University of Dayton ranks first in international student satisfaction, according to an International Student Barometer survey, the largest study of international students in the world. UD ranks as the fifth-best university for Chinese students studying abroad, according to Aoji Study Abroad, a student-recruiting agency.
UD's Intensive English Program is an approved member of the American Association of Intensive English Programs (AAIEP).
Higher Learning Commission Report
"Effective teaching and learning have high priority at UD," a team from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association wrote in its 2008 re-accreditation report. The team commended curricular initiatives across campus, including a "robust program of general education," the School of Engineering's Innovation Center, a nationally ranked entrepreneurship program, a new doctor of physical therapy program and a law school curriculum that has caught the eye of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
School of Business Administration
Entrepreneurship: No. 4 in Country
The entrepreneurship program has been ranked fourth in the nation by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine, moving up from the fifth-place spot, which it held for two years running. The program was cited for the many hands-on opportunities students have to run businesses, including Flyer Enterprises, which operates gourmet coffee shops and a café, and is the fourth-largest student-run business in the United States.
Flagship Programs
The School of Business Administration is listed in the 2008 edition of Best 290 Business Schools, published by Random House and The Princeton Review. This is the second consecutive year the school made the list, which is based on student surveys. Noted by students as having “one of the best-kept secrets in the world of MBA programs,” the school made the list for reputation, academic quality and flagship programs in entrepreneurship and finance.
World's Largest Student Investment Forum
The annual RISE (Redefining Investment Strategy Education) Forum is the largest student investment conference in the world. As part of RISE, Nasdaq in 2008 held the first remote closing bell ceremony on a university campus. More than 2,300 students, faculty and professionals representing 267 universities from 69 countries attended the three-day event, which is co-sponsored by the University of Dayton and United Nations Global Compact.
Top-10 Student-Managed Fund
In the Davis Center for Portfolio Management, undergraduates invest more than $8 million of the University's endowment, one of the 10 largest student-managed portfolios in the country.
Top-50 MBA Program
WOMEN 3.0 magazine in 2008 ranked the MBA program in the top 50 in the nation. The rankings were based on academic excellence, entrepreneurial focus, commitment to new businesses and ideas and flexibility for working women.
Winners
MBA students have finished among the top three winners in the Ohio Graduate Business Student Competition every year since 2000.
School of Education and Allied Professions
Nationally, the School of Education and Allied Professions ranks in the top three in Catholic higher education for faculty productivity, externally funded research and prominence within national initiatives.
Leaders in Teacher Preparation
The University of Dayton is part of a small network of colleges and universities dedicated to changing the way students are prepared to teach. The Teachers for a New Era Learning Network initiative is supported by the Carnegie Foundation of New York and the Annenberg Foundation. It includes the premiere teacher preparation programs in the nation and focuses on academic rigor, disciplinary studies and clinical experiences for pre-service teachers.
All teacher licensure candidates in Ohio are required to take and pass the PRAXIS exams. The passage rates for University of Dayton teacher candidates significantly surpass the national rates and consistently exceed the state passage rates. In particular, the pass rates for professional knowledge (98 percent), academic content (99 percent), teaching special populations (100 percent), and aggregate for all tests taken (97 percent) exceed state of Ohio averages, with Ohio passing scores that are among the highest in the nation.
DECA: Perfect College Acceptance Rate
Students at the Dayton Early College Academy, a charter school on campus, enjoy a 100 percent college acceptance rate. Most of the students are from minority families and homes where they will be the first to go to college. Starting in fall 2008, DECA will be the first early college school in Ohio to enroll seventh-graders. It's the only charter school in the country operated by a Catholic university.
School of Law
Vanguard of Legal Education
The University of Dayton is one of 10 law schools — including Harvard, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Georgetown — selected by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to shape the future of legal education.
National Attention
The Legal Profession Program has been ranked in the top 20 legal writing programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
The School of Law's accelerated curriculum has prompted attention from The New York Times, Time magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The Chronicle of Higher Education, the national Associated Press wire, National Public Radio, CNN Radio, the national legal press and regional media.
The School of Law received an award for excellence from the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution in 2006.
Stellar Placement Rate
Nearly 92 percent of the class of 2007 is employed, with a steady increase in the number of job offers at large firms in competitive markets from Los Angeles to New York.
Lawyers Who Serve
Law students have logged more than 4,500 hours of free legal service to those in need, with nearly 20 percent of 2008 graduates receiving the law school's Pro Bono Commitment to Community Award for donating at least 50 pro bono hours.
School of Engineering
Among the Elite
The School of Engineering's graduate program ranks second among all Catholic universities, behind Notre Dame, according to U.S. News & World Report in 2008. In Ohio, it ranks third. Nationally, it ranks 64th.
The graduate materials engineering program ranks third in the nation in the 2006-07 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index.
A National Niche
The electro-optics program is the only Ph.D. optics program in Ohio and one of a handful in the nation.
The program features a new facility, the Ladar and Optical Communications Institute, and will allow students to conduct research and learn in the nation's first Air Force-funded ladar center.
Competitive Faculty Fellowships
Two engineering professors have been awarded select Boeing Welliver Faculty Fellowships since 2006. Only about 10 U.S. professors per year receive the fellowships. The strength of the University of Dayton's engineering research has earned UD a spot on the Boeing Co.'s list of preferred universities.
Entrepreneurial
Mechanical engineering senior Lori Hanna's Salud del Sol, an innovative business plan to develop and market solar cookers and solar-powered medical sterilizers in Nicaraguan villages, took the $10,000 first prize at the 2008 UD Business Plan Competition.
Hanna's trip to Nicaragua, as a part of the University of Dayton's ETHOS project, inspired her to create the solar-powered autoclave for rural clinics.
Among the Best in the Midwest
Nicholas J. Miller won an honorable mention for his master's thesis in electro-optics at the 2008 Distinguished Master's Thesis competition sponsored by the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools. His thesis ranked in the top five from more than 50 universities.
College of Arts and Sciences
A Pioneer in Human Rights
The University of Dayton pioneered human rights education. In 2007, UD launched one of the nation's first bachelor degrees in human rights studies. UD started the nation's first undergraduate program in human rights in 1999.
The interdisciplinary degree will prepare graduates for careers in human rights advocacy and humanitarian assistance as well as law school or other advanced study.
Fulbright Awards
Kristen Cheney, assistant professor of sociology, anthropology and social work, received a 2008-2009 Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research in Uganda to learn how children feel about losing both parents to AIDS. Katie Telecsan, who majored in Spanish and secondary education, received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English as a second language in Chile in 2007-2008.
Outstanding Undergraduate Research
The University of Dayton is one of just 15 colleges in the nation named the 2007 winners of the Merck Institute for Science Education (MISE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) award.
Anytime, Anywhere Faith Formation
In partnership with 30 dioceses, the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives offers more than 60 online classes in English and Spanish in topics ranging from Catholic beliefs to social justice. "Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation" is the largest program of its type in the country.
Nobel Foundation
Chemistry alumnus Charles Pedersen won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1987.
Research
No. 1 and No. 2
The University of Dayton is the No. 1 Catholic university in nonmedical research and the No. 2 university nationally in materials research funding.
The University of Dayton also ranks 14th in federally sponsored engineering research and development among all colleges and universities.
Breakthrough Research
In 2007, Yiling Hong and Liming Dai published the first study of its kind to evaluate the possible DNA damage caused by carbon nanotubes.
The University of Dayton Research Institute and the Air Force Research Laboratory will construct and operate the nation's first federal research facility designed to create jet fuel from coal and biomass.
A World-Renowned Library
The Marian Library, which holds the world's largest collection of material about Mary, the mother of Jesus, attracts scholars from around the world. More than 40 percent of its holdings aren't found in any other library.
Service
A Leader in Peace Corps Volunteers
The Peace Corps named the University of Dayton to its 2008 list of top volunteer-producing colleges and universities. UD ranked 23rd among medium-sized schools in the annual list, with 20 alumni serving as volunteers in 2008, an increase from 13 volunteers in the field recorded in the previous year.
No. 1 in Community Revitalization
The "Savior of Our Cities" national survey of community revitalization ranks the University of Dayton No. 1 among Catholic universities and No. 3 overall (behind the University of Southern California and the University of Pennsylvania) in helping to save America's cities from blight.
Leading Through Service to Others
The Templeton Foundation selected the University of Dayton as having one of the nation's 60 best service-learning programs that encourages students to contribute and learn through volunteer activity. UD is also included in The Templeton Guide: Colleges That Encourage Character Development, signifying that it is one of 100 colleges and universities in the United States that prepares students for lives of personal and civic responsibility
Exemplary Campus Ministry
The University of Dayton boasts one of the world's largest campus ministry programs. UD received the Archbishop Paul Hallinan Award from the Catholic Campus Ministry Association in recognition of an exemplary campus ministry program at a Catholic university.
Athletics
Making the Grade
University of Dayton is a national leader in the academic performance of its student-athletes. UD student-athletes rank first in the Atlantic 10 in graduation rates and consistently in the top 20 nationally. At least one Flyer annually has been named an Academic All-American for the past 23 consecutive years. Student-athletes post above a 3.0 average grade point average, one of the best marks in the country.
University of Dayton senior safety Brandon Cramer of Toledo earned the highest academic honor bestowed upon any University of Dayton student-athlete when he was named the 2007 ESPN The Magazine University Division Academic All-America of the Year in football.
The University of Dayton's Academic Progress rate, one of the best in the country, tops the A-10.
Elite Performance
In 2007-2008, Flyer teams won at an unprecedented rate, with a .629 winning percentage — the best in school history. Football won the Gridiron Classic and was voted FCS Mid-Major National Champion. Volleyball, nationally ranked in the top 25, finished 33-2 and won its conference championship. Men's and women's soccer each qualified for the A-10 Championships. Men's and women's basketball reached post-season play, with women's head coach Jim Jabir named 2007-2008 A-10 Coach of the Year. Track and field finished a best-ever second place in the Indoor A-10 Championship. Men's golf also finished second in the A-10.
'Best in the Nation'
That's what The Sporting News calls Flyer fans. The University of Dayton finished in the top 30 in men's basketball attendance for the 11th straight season in 2007-08. Since UD Arena opened in 1969, Dayton has been in the NCAA's top 35 in attendance every season. The Flyers led the Atlantic 10 in attendance for the 12th straight season.
Road to the Final Four
The University of Dayton athletic facilities compete with the best in the nation, with the University of Dayton Arena ranking as the third most-used venue for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The Road to the Final Four begins each March in Dayton with the opening round game. UD Arena is scheduled to host NCAA men’s tournament games in 2009 and 2010, and will serve as an NCAA women's regional site in 2010.
