The University of Nevada, Reno is again ranked in the top tier of "best national universities" by U.S. News & World Report.

"Our top-tier ranking makes an important statement about the quality and value we offer students, our faculty's world-improving research and the continued contributions of University staff," University President Marc Johnson said. "The measures behind this ranking touch on several aspects of performance."  

Measures contributing to the U.S. News' 2016 rankings, released Sept. 9, 2015, include graduation rate performance, faculty resources, student selectivity and preparedness, financial resources, alumni giving, reputation based on input of high-school counselors and a peer-assessment survey with university leaders nationally.  

Of the nation's thousands of universities and colleges, U.S. News compiles data on nearly 1,600 through its ranking process. U.S. News defines schools in the "best national universities" category as offering a full range of undergraduate majors, masters and doctoral degrees and placing a strong emphasis on research. The University of Nevada, Reno is ranked No. 187 among national universities.  

In addition to the University's overall ranking, the College of Engineering and the College of Business are again ranked among the "best colleges" in this year's survey of undergraduate programs.   

The University's College of Engineering is ranked by U.S. News both as one of the "best colleges" for its undergraduate programs and as a "best grad school," announced in the spring. In the 2016 category of "best colleges" for undergraduate engineering programs, the College of Engineering is ranked No. 137. To be ranked, the highest degree awarded must be a doctoral degree and the college must have at least one accredited program by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.  

The University's College of Business is ranked No. 222 in the category of "best colleges" for its undergraduate business programs. To be ranked, the college or program must be accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The Princeton Review lists the College of Business in its Best Business Schools guidebook and it recently named the college's online Executive Masters of Business Administration one of the "Top 25 Online MBA Programs for 2015." In January, U.S. News ranked the online Executive MBA No. 29 in the "Best Online MBA Programs" category, and the College's Part-Time MBA program is ranked No. 24 in the nation by Bloomberg BusinessWeek.  

U.S. News uses the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education to determine its designation of national universities, and Carnegie classifies the University of Nevada, Reno as a high research, comprehensive doctoral university with balanced arts and sciences undergraduate instruction. Based on the Carnegie Classifications, U.S. News considered 280 institutions as national universities for its 2016 rankings.  

Last spring the University achieved a strong showing in the annual rankings of the best graduate programs by U.S. News. Four schools - the College of Engineering, College of Education, University of Nevada School of Medicine and Orvis School of Nursing - and an additional 23 program areas were ranked among the nation's best.  

While rankings serve as a supplemental source of information for prospective students and their families, when it comes to selecting a college or university the University's Office of Prospective Students encourages first-hand research and campus visits to understand the learning environment, campus personality, range of degree offerings and financial aid opportunities.