OU was ranked 127th in the Best National University rankings by U.S. News & World Report after being unranked for two years due to penalization for falsely reporting data in 2019.
In 2019, OU revealed to U.S. News & World Report that the university had been inflating alumni giving data since 1999. OU provided a false two-year alumni giving rate of 14 percent, when, in reality, the rate was 9.7 percent.
The false reports resulted in an unranked status until the next edition of the rankings was published and until the school confirmed the accuracy of its next data submission, according to U.S. News.
Along with ranking 127th nationally, U.S. News ranked OU at 61st in the Top Public School rankings and 83rd in Best Colleges for Veterans.
Other Big 12 Conference schools appeared in the rankings as well, with Iowa State tying with OU at 127th in the Best National University rankings. The University of Texas at Austin ranked 38th, Baylor ranked 77th and Oklahoma State ranked 182nd.
The methodology behind the U.S. News’ rankings focused on graduation rates, first-year retention, financial resources and the opinions of experts chosen by U.S. News.Â
OU placed 148th on Forbes’ America’s Top Colleges List. Forbes' rankings focused on different factors than the U.S. News rankings, such as alumni salary, debt and return on investment.
In Forbes' rankings, Texas Christian University ranked 143rd, the University of Texas ranked 43rd, Texas Tech ranked 152nd, Iowa State ranked 156th, Baylor ranked 164th, Kansas ranked 165th, Oklahoma State ranked 244th, Kansas State ranked 275th and West Virginia ranked 340th.
