It did, however, improve in the criteria of overall score, GRE scores, reputation among recruiters, acceptance rate, research expenditures, and research expenditure among faculty.

A feature story titled "Engineering: Innovative Programs Can Help You Become a Technical Wizard-and a Savvy Entrepreneur"—appearing on page 36 of the guide—

profiles Rensselaer student Matthew Freshman, who will graduate in May with a Master’s degree in biomedical engineering.

RPI is praised in the guide as being among graduate engineering schools that help enterprising students to become business and industry leaders. "Rather than burying star pupils in ever-narrower fields of research, engineering schools are encouraging graduate students to broaden their experiences and consider the entrepreneurial potential of their work," wrote guide author Janet Rae-Dupree.

William Baeslack, dean of the School of Engineering, expressed concern about the significant fall in the graduate school rankings, but said, "I’m not overly surprised. Other universities are on a steeper slope, and while we’ve stood still there to a certain extent, until the last year the slope has risen slowly.

The rankings more than that reflect the resources of our competitors, particularly the fast-movers. It’s a matter of investment and priority."

He added that some graduate research has suffered in the past as a result of emphasis on teaching.

According to Baeslack, the principal goal in The Rensselaer Plan is to produce more of a balance between teaching and graduate research.

"We’ve got tremendous support from the president. Our design will precisely meet our desire to change in the rankings. The resources are there to hire great people to allow them to be productive," said Baeslack.