The University of Oregon keeps coming up tops in national surveys of the flagship colleges in the United States. This summer, two national rankings included UO in the best of the best: the Fiske Guide to Colleges and U.S. News and World Report’s annual Best Colleges ranking.

"UO may be the best deal in public higher education on the West Coast,” the Fiske guide for 2014 said, putting a photo of the UO campus at the top of its story. “Less expensive than the UC system and less selective than the University of Washington, UO is a flagship university of manageable size in a great location. The liberal arts are more than just a slogan, and programs in business and communications are strong." The list is based on considerations of affordability and academics.

The UO ranking by U.S. News and World Report—number 53 among 173 ranked public research universities, and number 109, along with two other institutions, on the list of “Best National Universities”—puts the university in the top eight percent of the institutions evaluated by U.S. News (1,376) and first among public institutions in the state.

The overall ranking is an improvement of six positions from number 115 last year. Increases in peer and high school counselor assessment scores, graduation rate performance, and the percentages of small or large class sizes all contributed to the improvement.

“Access, affordability and quality are all important at the University of Oregon,” said Roger Thompson, UO vice president for Enrollment Management. “The UO has enrolled successive classes with record-breaking grade point averages and test scores, as well as record levels of socioeconomic, racial and ethnic diversity. And our students are thriving at a top-tier research institution.”