Points of Distinction

The news website Military Times ranks KU's programs for veterans No. 7 among U.S. public four-year colleges. KU ranks No. 3 among colleges with 20,000 students or more, and it is the highest-ranked Big 12 university.

Criteria included participation in the federal Yellow Ribbon program, in which schools help pay for veterans' tuition; an office devoted to veterans and a strong veterans-services staff; and a low student-loan default rate compared with other schools on the list.

Eastern Kentucky University was No. 1; Rutgers, South Floriday, and Nebraska were also in the top 10.

A team of three KU students took top honors in the national 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Student Design Competition for their efficient, economical process for brewing nonalcoholic beer.

Hal Laurence, Lansing, and Le Tran, Newton, both 2012 chemical engineering graduates, and fifth-year senior MacKenzie Christie, Lawrence, prepared their winning entry as part of a yearlong, two-part senior design course.

Students were challenged to evaluate the economics and political climate of producing nonalcoholic beer in five states, while selecting a site that had the capability to increase its production without undergoing a physical expansion.

“The team did the economics very carefully. They gave it a lot of attention,” said Marylee Southard, associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, who oversaw the student team.  “They found that some Southern states are the best places to produce nonalcoholic beverages because of their higher alcohol taxes: They got significant tax savings by making nonalcoholic beer instead of the usual brew.”

The University Daily Kansan was named the Best Newspaper of 2012 by the College Newspaper Business & Advertising Managers. The Kansan also won the award in 2011.

The award was for newspapers with circulations of 30,000 or above.

The Kansan also took first place for newspaper promotion ad, group promotion (classified 0r ROP), training program, and best student designer, Graham Greene.

The freshman class of 2012 has a collective ACT score of 25.1, the highest in KU's history and an increase over the record-setting 24.9 average of the two preceding years.

This is the first time an incoming class has had a collective ACT average above 25.

It is also the most diverse class in KU history, 21.3 percent being minority students.

The freshman class numbers 3,771, an increase of 5.3 percent over 2011. Total KU enrollment is 27,939. The School of Engineering enrollment increased by 22 percent as its freshman class expanded to meet the state's need for more engineers. The School of Nursing enrollment increased by 9.3 percent and the School of Pharmacy by 6.7 percent.

The School of Business experienced a 141 percent increase in its freshman class because it admitted more freshmen directly.

The American Institute for Economic Research 2012 College Destinations Index ranks Lawrence No. 8 in the top 75 U.S. towns and cities for college students. 

Manhattan, home of Kansas State University, was ranked No. 14.

Criteria included the concentration and diversity of college students, cost of living, arts and leisure venues, employment opportunities, and entrepreneurial activity.

A team of KU architectural engineering students finished in second place in the 2012 national
Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) 2012 Big Beam Contest.

The contest testing takes place within the concrete labs on college campuses. Students had to design a prestressed concrete beam that spanned 18 feet, apply stress, monitor it for cracking and failure, and estimate when cracking would occur.

KU student Kelsey Murrell, an English literature and creative writing major, has become the 26th KU student to win a prestigious Rhodes scholarship.

She will receive funding to attend the University of Oxford for one or two years, where she will pursue graduate degrees in migration studies and refugee and forced migration studies.

Murrell will graduate from the University Honors Program and with highest distinction from KU in May 2012.

Aerospace engineering students won top awards in two international design competitions in August 2012.

The student teams won:

— First, second, and third place in the Individual Aircraft Design Competition of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
— First and third place in the AIAA/ASME/International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) Undergraduate Engine Design Competition

Students and teams from the KU aerospace engineering department have taken first, second, or third place more than 50 times since the beginning of the AIAA contest in 1968, more than any other academic institution in the world.