"u.s. news & world report" ranked usu no. 14 for best online bachelor's programs in 2017. "forbes" ranked the university no. 95 in public colleges, no. 137 in research universities, and no. 65 among colleges in the west. the university also leads the nation in funding for aerospace research and the number of student experiments actually sent out into space. in 2017, utah state university was ranked no. 1 in the nation by msn among 1,600 considered schools "based on affordability, flexibility, and other quantitative factors."