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AMHERST, N.Y. – ˿����Ƶ College has been named among the nation’s best universities in the 2020 U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges rankings, making this the first time ever ˿����Ƶ has been included on the national universities list.

˿����Ƶ is ranked No. 263 of 399 public and private universities from across the United States. The college shares the spot with New Mexico State University, Old Dominion University, University of Alabama-Huntsville, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of North Dakota, and the University of South Dakota. The college is one of only three institutions in the Buffalo Niagara region to be included on the national universities list.

“We are proud to have U.S. News recognize ˿����Ƶ as one of the best universities in the country,” said ˿����Ƶ President Gary Olson. “Our growing national prominence is a testament to the great momentum our college is experiencing and reflects our academic excellence, world-class faculty, and the student-centered experience that we provide to prepare students for future professional success.”

˿����Ƶ is also ranked No. 56 (tied) among national universities in the new social mobility category, a listing that measures how well schools graduate students who have received federal Pell Grants. On the newly created list, ˿����Ƶ comes in at No. 7 among national universities in New York State and is one of only two private institutions in Western New York in the social mobility category.

U.S. News noted, “Economically disadvantaged students are less likely than others to finish college. But some colleges are more successful than others at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded Pell Grants.”

In another category, U. S. News lists ˿����Ƶ as an A+ plus school for B students, which is based on the college’s performance in the 2020 rankings and the average freshman retention rate.

Now in its 35^th year, the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings compare institutions from the across the U.S. based on 15 measures of academic quality. Rankings are based on graduation and retention rates (35 percent); faculty resources (20 percent), which includes class size, salary, proportion of full-time faculty, proportion of faculty with the highest degree in their field, and student-faculty ratio; expert opinion (20 percent), which is pulled from various surveys and studies; financial resources (10 percent); student excellence (10 percent), which includes standardized test scores and high school standing; and alumni giving (5 percent).

Categories for U.S. News college rankings are related to those used by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. In an update this year to the Carnegie Classification system, ˿����Ƶ was elevated to doctoral status, a change that moved the college into the national universities category in the U.S. News rankings.

Prior to moving to the national universities list, ˿����Ƶ had been ranked in the regional universities North category.