FAU & Miami celebrate Final Four 1st appearance & Top US News & World Report Ranking

Florida Atlantic University and the University of Miami are proudly representing the sunshine state this weekend in Houston at the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament. It is the first appearance for both schools and the first from the sunshine state since the UF Gators earned a birth in 2014.

Both schools were also ranked atop a new US News & World Report Best Colleges category. The category is titled Best Colleges to Graduate Alive and Traumaless. Criteria for this category include the history of a mass shooting on campus, the reported number of lockdowns, calls to 911, loose local gun laws, proximity to high school mass shootings and football teams bowl game history.

“We believe this category is meaningful to both prospective students, their families and  future employers,” stated former NCAA president Mark Emmert and former University of Washington president. “For a student, their higher chances of survival, means the higher potential to cashing in on their NIL (name, image, likeness) before turning pro in whichever field they choose.

“With the diminishing labor market, employers  need to find candidates who not only want to work, but are free from trauma,” added Steve Bartman, managing partner at Aon Hewitt human capital company. “Additionally, having the employee of a sound mind will reduce truancy and mental health costs for the employer, which have been on the rise since the 1994 Assault Weapon ban repeal under the Clinton administration .”

In another celebration of receiving a top ranking in the new category,  Chicago State University posted on thei Instagram account “It’s great to be alive!” quoting late local DJ Lin Brehmer.

The other colleges and universities included  on the list are:

Florida Atlantic University

University of Miami

University of Denver

Rocky Mountain College of the Arts

Regis University

Michigan State University

University of Arkansas

Pacific Lutheran University

University of Arizona

Case Western Reserve University

Duquesne University

Virginia Tech

Northern Illinois University

University of Central Arkansas

Hampton University

Harvard College

Skyline College

University of Alabama

Ohio State University

University of Texas

Oikos University

University of South Alabama

University of Southern California

Stevens Institute of Business and Arts

Hazard Community and Technical College

Chicago State University

Lone Star College-North

University of Central Florida

New River Community College

Grambling State University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

North Carolina A&T State University

Purdue University

South Carolina State University

Los Angeles Valley College

University of Southern California

Georgia Regents University

Paine College

Georgia Gwinnett College

Seattle Pacific University

Indiana State University

Florida State University

Rogers State University

Bethune-Cookman University

Wayne Community College

Savannah State University

Umpqua Community College

Northern Arizona University

Texas Southern University

Tennessee State University

Winston-Salem State University

University of California-Los Angeles

University of Washington

Wake Forest University

Central Michigan University

University of North Carolina Charlotte

Florida International University

Prairie View A & M University

Grambling State University

College of the Mainland

UNC Charlotte

Texas A&M University-Commerce

Western Illinois University

Oxford High School

University of Arkansas

Oxford High School

Bridgewater University