Kansas University rose four places in a recent nationwide ranking of where public universities stand in federal research funding, KU announced April 9.

In the most recent rankings from the National Science Foundation, KU was 44th in federally funded science and engineering research grant expenditures. Those figures are from two years ago in 2005, when KU’s expenditures totaled $111 million.

Based on 2004 data, KU had ranked 48th.

KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway called it a measure of the quality of KU’s faculty.

“A rise in the NSF rankings demonstrates a competitive spirit and a desire to explore that carries over into the classroom and benefits our students,” Hemenway said in a prepared statement.

The ranking put KU at fifth among the public Big 12 universities, behind Colorado, Texas, Texas A&M and the statewide Nebraska system.