UA Helps Make Akron Area a 'Best Place to Educate a Child'

Akron, Ohio, Dec. 19, 2007 — The University of Akron helps make the Akron metropolitan area one of the top five in the United Sates to educate a child, according to the current issue of Forbes magazine.

Akron is fifth in the country on the Forbes list of “20 Best Places for Education.” The rankings were from “Places Rated Almanac” by David Savageau.

The study looked at U.S. metropolitan areas and their educational systems. Cities were graded based on the criteria of public school support, private school options, library popularity, college town and college options.

The report said, “Although it may not be as saturated with students as some of the other areas on the list, Akron is anything but lacking in the education department.”

“Our university and the community at large continue to work to improve academic success across the board in the region,” says UA President Luis M. Proenza. “This ranking is validation of our progress, and the Akron Public School System and other systems in the area should be congratulated for this achievement.”

Columbus, ranked No. 6, is the only other Ohio city on the list. Ahead of Akron are Washington, D.C.-Arlington, Va.; Madison, Wis.; Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, Mass.; and Baltimore-Towson, Md.

“Colleges and universities are great white-collar employers,” Savageau wrote in a commentary accompanying the rankings, adding, “There is a big connection between research-oriented universities and healthy economies.

"A metro area's collection of higher-education institutions should meet the needs of the greatest number of residents: low-cost night and weekend continuing-education courses for people who work, full-time graduate courses in the professions, courses leading to occupational certification in two-year colleges and the traditional bachelor's degree curriculum offered in colleges or universities.”

“Those are precisely the types of programs we offer at The University of Akron,” Proenza says, “so it is fitting that Akron is high on this distinguished list.

"As to the connection between research-oriented universities and healthy economies, one need only look at our success in the commercialization of technologies achieved largely through the efforts of The University of Akron Research Foundation, and FirstEnergy's recent $2 million pledge to the university to establish the FirstEnergy Fund for Advanced Energy Research.”

The Forbes report can be found at http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/12/best-places-for-education-oped-cx_dsa_1212educate.html. A slide show of the top 20 is at http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/12/best-places-for-education-oped-cx_apa_1212educate_slide_6.html?thisSpeed=3000.

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