It is primarily known for the following fields. *Marine and Freshwater Biology *Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences *Geosciences Also, it is the flagship school for the University of Alaska System so it receives the most funding from the state (and federal). Some reasons UAF often gets overlooked is because of the following reasons: *it's relatively small state school *located in AK which ties back to enrollment size *it opted to focus its curriculum on what would benefit AK the most which hurts its "national ranking" *a DII school except in ice hockey (DI) so it doesn't receive as much exposure EMU is on my hometown, so I am surprised it is on the list given that it is a small DIII school. You are right that EMU is unremarkable because it isn't really known for anything.