Thhe Couggar
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2024
@THEDAILYCOUGAR
WWW.THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM
ISSUE 4, VOLUME 90
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
The “Daily Cougar Day” on Oct. 5—Celebrating 90 years of history CINDY RIVAS ALFARO
EDITOR IN CHIEF @CINDYGISELLES
Editor in chief Cindy Rivas Alfaro and opinion editor Parker Hodges-Beggs make a heart with their hands on top of copies of The Cougar’s Volume 33 newsapaper editions on Sept. 30, 2024. | Emma Christensen/The Cougar
RANKINGS
UH ranks no. 74 by the US News and World Report, a slight drop from last year’s college rankings
GAURAANGI GUPTA
NEWS EDITOR @GAURAANGIGUPTA
The U.S. News and World Report ranked UH at the 74th position in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report Top Public School rankings. Though there is a slight shift from ranking 70th to 74th, UH advanced in student success metrics and continues its commitment to its vision of the Top 50 Public Universities. “While rankings fluctuate, what matters most is our continued focus on student success and the steady progress we are making in that area,” said Chancellor and President Renu Khator in a press release. These 2025 rankings come as UH improved its six-year graduation rate, now at 65%, marking a 14 percentage point increase since 2015. UH’s one-year retention rate also saw gains and was ranked 36 in social mobility among all national universities. “The university anticipates that as graduation rates continue to rise, particularly the goal of reaching a 70%
graduation rate, it will experience more substantial movement in the rankings in the coming years,” said executive director of media relations Kevin Quinn. While UH maintained to gain points for its retention rates, it did lose points as metrics related to the success of first-generation students were removed. UH is placed in a highly competitive landscape where only five points separate UH from the top 50 public universities, according to the press release by UH. “As we continue our progress toward becoming a top 50 public university, our vision remains clear, and our commitment to student success unwavering. We expect to see even greater gains as we build on the foundation we have set,” Khator said. “Our community, students and supporters can rest assured that we will continue to strive for excellence in every area that matters most.” The rankings are calculated and determined based on 17 factors where peer assessment
and graduation rates hold the most value with 20% and 16% in 2024, respectively. Other factors include graduation rate performance, borrower debt, full-time faculty, standardized tests, studentfaculty ratio and faculty salaries The University was also ranked no. 144 in the National Universities criteria, no. 65 in best undergraduate business no. 122 in best value schools and no. 79 in best undergraduate engineering. According to UH and its administration, the University will continue to work toward its reaching goal of becoming a top 50 public school in the nation. Earlier this year, UH was also ranked in the top 50 Forbes ranking, climbing 22 spots. With the University enrolling a record-breaking class of 6,200 students this semester—the last record being 5,680 students in 2019—UH is steadily on its way to becoming a university that students want to attend and join the ever growing crowd of Cougar alumni. news@thedailycougar.com
Happy Daily Cougar Day! Even though we don’t call ourselves the “Daily Cougar” anymore, the official proclamation signed by former mayor Bill White called it as such. Also, I know it’s not Oct. 5 yet but there’s nothing wrong with celebrating a little early, right? From my time at The Cougar, I don’t think we have ever celebrated The Daily Cougar Day. In fact, the document that marks the day as official was hidden behind a picture frame in the editor in chief ’s office. If I hadn’t opened up the frame, I would have never known that a former mayor had bestowed such an honor to us. Personally, I am a history nerd, especially when it comes to archives. I had my first taste of archival research when I interned at Arte Público Press on campus and my time with Houston History Magazine over the summer. From there, I gained an appreciation for the preservation and collection of artifacts, documents and other valuable pieces of history. So, when I found that document signed by the mayor saying The Cougar had a day of its own, my jaw was on the floor. If you didn’t know, The Cougar
office has several binded books filled with old copies of our newspapers. I look through them all the time whether its for a story, a glimpse of the past or just plain boredom. I just know that whenever I look through the archives, I will find something exciting that will add, change or totally reshape my perception of the University for whatever time period I’m looking at. I would go into detail of how The Cougar has documented the years of the University but our news editor, Gauraangi, has an article looking back on different Oct. 5’s throughout the years on page seven so I’ll let you all read that story. However, as I enter my fifth month as editor in chief, I can’t believe I’m already close to the halfway mark of my tenure. I am always thinking about the previous editor in chiefs before me and the 90 years of Cougar articles spread across old newspaper pages. That’s why for this edition, I wanted to bring back the traditional look for the front cover so I hope all of you enjoy it as much as I do. With that in mind, I hope this semester is treating you all well and don’t forget to pick up a copy of The Cougar whenever you have a chance! editor@thedailycougar.com
The original proclamation signed by former mayor Bill White showcases a sketch of Houston and its culture, ranging from its skyline, infrastructure, bayou and imports. | The Cougar