UF has become the first Florida school to break into the list of top 10 best public universities, coming in at No. 9, according to the 2018 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings released in September.

Among all universities both public and private, UF is now tied with the University of California, Irvine; the University of California, San Diego; and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.

“This is a significant milestone that we can all be proud of, and it happened as the result of many years of focused work and a keen sense of purpose,” UF President Kent Fuchs said. “Our faculty — the core of our academic reputation — and staff deserve tremendous credit for lifting us up to get us here, as do previous leaders, particularly Bernie Machen and UF’s Board of Trustees. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Legislature, Gov. Rick Scott and the Board of Governors for their continued support to ensure that the nation’s third most-populous state has the world-class university it deserves.”