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Every year, prospective students and their families pore over a range of college rankings that strive to gauge everything from universities’ academic rigor to their social atmosphere. Some of these assessments are more useful than others.

And though these college rankings make headlines every year, few are based on as much data as the National Research Council’s report last week on doctoral education in the United States. Years in the making, the NRC report bases its findings on 250,000 data points culled from 5,000 programs in 59 fields or disciplines at 212 universities.

The results are gratifying, as 20 of the University of Colorado at Boulder’s doctoral programs were rated in the top 20 or top 20 percent of their fields. Nearly two-thirds of the 33 programs evaluated at CU are ranked in the top 20 percent.

Five of the seven CU-Boulder programs ranked in the top 5 or top 5 percent—geography, integrative physiology, astrophysical and planetary sciences, psychology and physics—are in the College of Arts and Sciences.

As CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano put it, “This is an affirmation of the great work of our faculty in both forging influential research and training a new generation of cutting-edge researchers.”

The NRC rankings are, of course, assessments of doctoral programs, not of undergraduate education.

Nonetheless, they do serve as a helpful barometer of quality for the thousands of students considering or pursuing an undergraduate degree at CU. Scholars who get high marks for cutting-edge research and prestigious awards also teach our undergraduate courses. These faculty members serve as mentors and advisers to students of all levels.

No assessment, including this one, can offer a definitive measure of quality, which is subjective. But the NRC report is another reminder that our university does an excellent job in service of its students, the state and our future.  We will offer more information on these top ranked programs in our December issue.

On a less-uplifting note, I am sorry to report that this year’s Buffalo Bicycle Classic had to be canceled because of the Fourmile Fire in Boulder County early this September. Measured by the number and value of homes lost, that fire was the most destructive in state history.

The bicycle classic is the largest single source of scholarships in the College of Arts and Sciences, having raised more than $1.2 million in scholarship funds since 2003. The scholarships generated by the BBC provide critical support to good students who have real financial need. These funds are a great equalizing force, helping retain our best and brightest students regardless of their financial circumstances.

We had to cancel this year’s ride because both the county and the college were concerned about our cyclists congesting the emergency access routes to the fire, the already-over-extended law-enforcement personnel who would be asked to monitor the event, and the possibility of poor air quality on ride day.  We also had no access to our aid station tents and other supplies, which were stored adjacent to Fourmile Canyon in the evacuated area.

All was not lost, however. The BBC’s title sponsor, Elevations Credit Union, left its support intact and pledged an additional $25,000 to the scholarship fund in the hopes of encouraging riders and other sponsors to allow their registration fees and pledges to be used for their intended purpose: scholarships. Nearly all of the event’s sponsors and 75 percent of the riders have also donated their money for the cause.

We are pleased with this response, which has reassured us of the strong support for scholarships in the college. If you would like to contribute to the scholarship fund, please visit.

And thank you, as always, for your support.

Todd Gleeson, professor in the department of integrative physiology, was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at CU Boulder from 2002 to 2012.