"This ranking is testimony to the hard work of College of Agriculture faculty, staff and students and the support we receive from the University, stakeholders, partners, and alumni," said Jay Akridge, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture. "We are committed to providing an exceptional education for our students and to high-impact discovery and engagement that addresses society's most important challenges. Recognitions such as this QS ranking illustrate the impact our people have."

Universities are ranked based on four main criteria: the number of times research publications from the institution were cited by other researchers in professional journals; the opinions of other academics in the field; the opinions of employers in the field; and the "H-index," a quantitative and qualitative measurement of research paper output.

Purdue's College of Agriculture placed behind the University of California, Davis; Wageningen University in the Netherlands; Cornell University; the University of Wisconsin; and Texas A&M University.

Other U.S. universities that made the top 25 are Oregon State (8), Penn State (9), Iowa State (10), North Carolina State (14), Michigan State (16), Illinois (17), Florida (23) and Colorado State (24).

The full ranking is available at http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2013/agriculture-forestry

Writer: Keith Robinson of Purdue Agriculture News