The University of Iowa fell in the overall rank for American universities, according to this year’s college rankings from U.S. News and World Report.

The UI’s ranking dropped to fifth for writing, tying with other schools while remaining the only public school in the top 10. Brown University, Columbia University, Duke University, and Princeton University ranked ahead of the UI in writing.

U.S. News and World Report identifies top writing programs by tasking education experts to nominate education programs in a yearly survey.

The UI ranked 47th among public schools and 93rd overall when including public and private schools, a sharp decline from last year’s 35th among public schools and 83rd overall.

“We’re always happy to be recognized for what we do and who we are. Boiling all of that down to a single ranking is tricky though,” UI President Barbara Wilson said in a news release. “We are still the same exceptional research-intensive, comprehensively strong, Big Ten university that we were last.”

Rankings for other areas also changed as the methodology of the rankings changed this year, leading many schools to see fluctuations.

The UI College of Nursing saw the most notable change in the rankings, jumping from ninth to fourth this year, making it the top public nursing program. Earlier this year, the UI appointed Denise Jamieson as the new vice president of medical affairs and dean of Carver College of Medicine.

“We’re not just teaching nursing and writing, we are equipping our graduates with the confidence and skills they need to be successful, make a difference, and fulfill critical needs of Iowa’s workforce,” UI Executive Vice President and Provost Kevin Kregel said in a release.

In the last five years, the UI developed several programs to recruit students into the nursing program. The UI started a five-semester accelerated nursing program this year that prepares students with different educational backgrounds an opportunity to learn for the nursing licensure exam.

Another partnership recently developed with Kirkwood Community College and the College of Nursing allows registered nursing graduates from Kirkwood to transfer to the UI to complete a Bachelor of Science.

The UI Tippie College of Business dropped three places in the rankings, going from 33rd last year to 36th this year. Accounting saw a slight bump moving from 35th to 34th, while analytics went in the opposite direction dropping to 34th after reaching 33rd.

Other ranked programs at the UI included:

• Best college for veterans: 61st
• Undergraduate economic programs: 65th
• Undergraduate computer science programs: 71st
• Undergraduate engineering programs doctorate: 74th
• Best value schools: 110th

The university improved in a few areas for its rankings, while slightly decreasing in others. Its biggest improvements were in its faculty resources, jumping from 77th to 62nd, and financial resources ranks, moving from 85th to 81st.

Notable decreases were in graduation retention rank going from 124th to 135th, and graduation rate performances, slumping from 188th to 203rd.

The UI’s other rankings:

• First-year retention increased from 87 percent to 89 percent.
• Predicted graduation had a slight increase from 73 percent to 74 percent.
• Actual graduation experienced slight decrease from 74 percent to 73 percent.
• Social mobility decreased in score from 372 to 377.
• Pell graduation had a slight decrease from 63 percent to 62 percent.
• Peer assessment remained unchanged at a score of 3.6.
• Overall score increased from 63 to 66.
• The UI received a score of 74 percent in a new metric called faculty research.

The UI’s numbers are lower in retention of students at 88 percent and graduation rate at 71 percent when compared to other schools. The University of Michigan had the highest percentages of the Big Ten, while Iowa’s neighbors in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota all had higher percentages too.

RELATED: UI beats top universities for second spot in writing in national college rankings

Even though the UI’s ranks dropped, Wilson said the increase in the UI’s nursing rank was reflective of the program and the UI’s strength in health care.

“There is nowhere else in the world that combines our unique strengths in writing and communication and in health care with a community that is as passionate and driven as ours,” Wilson said in a release. “I’m so proud to call this university home, and am grateful to our students, faculty, and staff for being part of our vibrant community.”