I am writing about the article published on Sept. 16 about UC Merced ranked among nation's best colleges. I certainly agree that the article is newsworthy. However, I question why UC Merced is in large bold letters in the title, while Stanislaus State is in smaller regular text under the UC Merced title? UC Merced ranked No. 78 in U.S. News & World Report among public schools and No. 152 in the National Universities categories, while Stanislaus State ranked No. 14 in the western region and No. 61 regionally among all four-year colleges. Stanislaus State deserves to be on the top in BOLD letters, especially in our hometown newspaper. I am proud of our local university. Stanislaus State earned many other accolades this past year, including (from the Stan State Website and Turlock Journal articles):
• No. 28 out of 2,500 colleges and universities across the nation in a Time Magazine ranking based on access, affordability and educational outcomes.
• No. 173 out of 1,500 four-year colleges in Money magazine's Best Colleges list, earning a B-plus grade for giving students the most value for their money.
• In August, Stan State earned a place in the 2015 edition of the Princeton Review's The Best 379 Colleges guide, marking the eleventh consecutive year the University has appeared on the prestigious list.
• A list ranking the nation's universities based on upward mobility includes the expected big names like Harvard University, MIT, Stanford University and University of California, Irvine, which occupy the top four spots. However, it was the fifth school on the list that has taken everyone by surprise-California State University, Stanislaus.
• The CSU Stanislaus School of Nursing has been ranked 26th (only 9 points from first place) among 442 Nursing programs in the western United States by NurseJournal.Org in its "Best Nursing Schools, 2015" rankings.
• Stan State is 18 among 233 western universities in the Washington Monthly's "Best Bang for the Buck" rankings.
• Washington Monthly lists Stanislaus State as No. 5 in the nation for master's programs (up from 28th last year) and No. 5 in the West Region in the "Bang for Your Buck" category (up from 10th last year.) In addition, Stanislaus State earned a spot on the publication's inaugural list of the nation's top 100 four-year schools for adult education.
• Stanislaus State continues to affirm its position as having one of the nation's top nursing programs, as its Accelerated Second Bachelor of Science in Nursing program (ASBSN) has been ranked No. 23 in the nation by the independent evaluator TopRNtoBSN.com.
So, yes, I am happy for UC Merced, and they should be acknowledged for their success. But let's celebrate and acknowledge Stan State, whom I fondly think of as "The Little University that Could."

- Carrie Dugovic