Tallahassee, FL -- February 7, 2012 --

Florida A&M University (FAMU) has been named one of the Top 15 most popular national universities in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. FAMU is the only historically black college or university that is ranked in the Top 15 with other Ivy League universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton. University of Florida is the only other university in Florida to be listed in the top 20.

The list is compiled by the yield of students who enroll in a university after being accepted.

“This ranking shows that FAMU remains a popular choice of students across this country,” said FAMU President James H. Ammons. “We are proud of this ranking and all of the others we have received since fall 2011. This year marks our quasquicentennial and this achievement builds on our momentum as we celebrate our legacy of excellence.”

According to the U. S. News and World Report’s website, one of the best indicators of a school’s popularity among students is the school’s yield—the percentage of applicants accepted by a college who end up enrolling at that institution in the fall. In fall 2010, FAMU accepted 4,993 and the first year enrollment was 2,815; therefore, 56.4 percent of the students who were accepted were enrolled as part of the fall 2010 class.

This academic year, FAMU has received the following accolades:

• No. 1 public historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the 2012 U.S. News and World Report college ranking for HBCUs.

• FAMU was named one of the “Best Colleges in the Southeast” in The Princeton Review 2012 edition.

• In September 2011, FAMU was named one of Forbes magazine 2011 Best Colleges in the nation in their annual ranking of top colleges.

• In 2011, FAMU was selected as one of The Princeton Review’s “311 Green Colleges: 2011 Edition.” The list focused solely on colleges that have demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.

• JET Magazine named FAMU one of the most affordable colleges.

• In September 2011, Washington Monthly magazine ranked FAMU as on of the “Top 100 National Universities.” This was FAMU's second consecutive year making the list.