University makes 'smartest' list

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is among the top three “smartest” public universities in the state.

That’s according to the “501 Smartest Colleges in America” list, which is compiled by “U.S News and World Report” based on average SAT scores.

The other two public Louisiana universities among the top three “smartest” in the state are LSU in Baton Rouge and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston.

Nationwide, the California Institute of Technology topped the “501 Smartest Colleges in America” list. Next were Princeton, Harvard and Yale, which tied at second, then the University of Chicago.

The “U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2014” publication, an annual guidebook for prospective college students, also listed UL Lafayette as one of four public Louisiana universities among the top 281 national colleges.

The guide lists 281 national universities —173 public, 101 private and seven for-profit — based on categories established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.