Randy Sandford

Leave it to a Bama fan to emphasize Auburn's agriculture program and place the College of Engineering, our greatest asset, at the end of the list. OK, time to do a little bragging about Auburn: For the 11th consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report magazine has rated Auburn University as the highest ranked public university in the state of Alabama. In its annual rankings for America's Best Colleges 2004, the magazine listed AU No. 44 among the top 50 public national universities. The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn is ranked 3rd among public institutions in the Southeast (behind only Georgia Tech and Florida). According to Forbes, Auburn University has produced more CEOs for the nations best small companies than any university in the South, and ranked Auburn fourth nationally in this category. Auburn is in the top 10 for producing astronauts (top 5 if you don't include the military academies). Auburn was the first university in the South to offer a degree in architecture, and its architecture program is one of the oldest in the nation.