“The very best schools are the most social schools.” 

Yesterday, Huffington Post Business named the University of Michigan the #1 Best and Most Collaborative Large School in the US. We ranked #3 out of 100 overall, #1 in the pool of Universities with 20K or more undergraduates. This is a high honor for the team at #UMsocial, as these rankings were determined by a combination of the US News & World Reports of the best schools, and social media scores from Klout and Kred.

Studies have shown that university social media accounts have the power to influence high school students during the selection process. The changing landscape of mobile and social technologies, including Coursera MOOCs and online interaction during offline classes is without a doubt changing the educational experience. How do we keep up?

At the University of Michigan, the central social team, as well as departments and units campus wide, work to collaborate with our students and improve their experiences using social media. Whether it’s giving our students their own voice through the @umichstudents Twitter, letting them ask questions about the fiscal cliff and debt ceiling by using a hashtag, see simple details on human health risks on YouTube, share their commencement experiences with the world (and the Big House), or showing them when their buses will arrive, we strive to connect with our students every day in ways they WANT to connect with us.  It’s experiences like this that separate the University of Michigan from others when it comes to social media, and what we here at #UMsocial aim to continuously deliver on throughout the year.

We are unbelievably proud to have received this rank, and will always believe that our social presence plays a part in the bigger picture that is the Michigan Difference. Stay Social, and Go Blue!