UM shares the No. 47 ranking with Penn State and the University of Illinois, and is now ranked ahead of two of its peer institutions: Tulane and Syracuse.

A year after it cracked the top tier of U.S.News & World Report’s prestigious rankings of “America’s Best Colleges,” the University of Miami has climbed to No. 47 on the magazine’s 2011 list, continuing a meteoric rise that has seen the institution climb 20 spots in the past nine years and become the highest-ranked Florida school on the list.

“Wow” is how UM President Donna E. Shalala described the latest ranking, an improvement of three slots from last year’s No. 50 position.

“This recognition is great news,” she said, adding that UM will continue to improve in the years ahead.

The fast ascent of UM, which is one of the youngest schools on the list, coincides with President Shalala’s arrival in 2001. In that year, UM stood at No. 67 on the list.

“The cumulative and continuous improvement in the U.S. News ranking over the past nine years reflects UM’s commitment to the students and their successful college experience,” said UM Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc.

The editors of U.S.News & World Report have ranked the nation’s top universities and colleges for the past 27 years. The 2011 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” hits newsstands on August 31, but the list and the methodology used by the magazine to rank schools can be viewed now on the publication’s website at www.usnews.com.

UM shares the No. 47 ranking with Penn State and the University of Illinois, and is now ranked ahead of two of its peer institutions: Tulane and Syracuse. In addition, U.S.News has ranked UM 48th in its “Great Schools, Great Prices” category.

UM did better than last year in four of the seven categories used by U.S. News to determine schools’ overall rank, improving in “Alumni Giving” (four spots higher), “Graduation and Retention” (three), and “Financial Resources” (two). The fourth category, “Undergraduate Academic Reputation Index,” is actually a new ranking category, created by U.S. News by combining a survey of high school counselors at public high schools with a Peer Assessment Score that is based on results from a survey of university presidents, provosts, and deans of admissions. UM’s Peer Assessment Score improved over last year, giving the institution a higher “Undergraduate Academic Reputation Index” score.

High marks in Graduation and Retention and the new Undergraduate Academic Reputation Index were critical in helping UM climb in the rankings, as the two categories combined account for almost half of the overall rating: 20 percent and 22.5 percent, respectively.

UM’s School of Business Administration also recorded a high rating in the U.S. News rankings, with its undergraduate business program ranked No. 24 for international business among all U.S. business programs. The rankings also place the school’s undergraduate business program at No. 57 overall among the 364 business schools ranked by U.S. News. The jump in the U.S. News ranking is significant, up 17 spots from 2009.

“We’re delighted to see this improvement in rankings as we work to earn a place of global preeminence among the world’s top business schools,” said Barbara E. Kahn, dean of the School of Business Administration. “This recognition is a testament to the strengths of our faculty, students, and innovative academic programs, all of which we will continue to build upon so that we can deliver the very best in undergraduate management education.”

The news of UM’s recent rise in the U.S.News rankings comes as students begin returning to campus this week in preparation for the 2010-2011 academic school year.