Penn State is ranked as the most underrated and 15th best national university, according to Carnegie Communication's Project Connect 2003 College Rankings Report.

"Typically, when reputation is factored in, Penn State is listed among the best in the country," Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said. "There's a lot to be said for Penn State. We've always maintained that we were underrated, which is what the Carnegie survey pointed out."

Carnegie Communications surveyed 3,787 college-bound high school students about "the instructional attributes they most value, the national and regional institutions they perceive to be highest in quality, and their own individual application plans."

Elizabeth Scarborough, Carnegie's vice president of strategic marketing services, said the company presented the students with U.S. News and World Report's Top 50 National Universities and asked them to rank colleges based on the "strongest images and reputation" and what factors go into that decision.

"We're not challenging or saying their rankings are incorrect but seeing how it compares," she said.

Penn State ranks as the 48th best national university according to U.S. News and World Report, 33 spots lower than Project Connect 2003. It also reported Penn State is the twelfth most popular university, based on the number of students that intend to apply.

Carnegie's survey revealed that students believe the most important aspects of a college are SAT/ACT scores of current students, the number of full-time faculty and four-year graduation rates. But other factors may influence the results, Scarborough said.

"I would hypothesize students likely heard of the athletics," she said. "It's a major factor of visibility."

Scarborough said the survey would not be released to students but is given to universities.

"The survey is meant for higher education to make sense of [U.S. News and World Report] rankings," she said. "The factors used to evaluate quality are not the same as theirs, and this is important to know because universities feel pressure to increase rankings."

She said the survey would not be replicated, but parents may be asked to take it. Students were randomly selected and weighted based on geographic region.

In August, adults rated Penn State as the 11th best national university in a Gallup poll.

"We're happy when we turn out at the top of these surveys, and when we don't, we ignore them," Mahon said.