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Serving as a guide for prospective students and their families, the rankings evaluate 1,500 colleges and universities using statistical measures in nine broad categories that education experts have proposed as reliable indicators of academic quality: social mobility; first-year student retention and graduation of students; graduate indebtedness; expert opinion; faculty resources; student excellence; financial resources; alumni giving; and graduation rate performance.

In addition to its overall ranking, U.S. News gave Ithaca College particularly high marks among colleges of its kind in the region in several specific categories:

• #2 for Best Undergraduate Teaching, a list that identifies schools whose faculty and administrators are committed to teaching undergraduate students in a high-quality manner.
   
• #4 for Most Innovative Schools, signifying the institutions that are making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology, or facilities.
   
• #18 for Best Value, a ranking of schools that are above average academically and cost considerably less than many other schools when the financial aid that they dispense in the form of need-based grants and scholarships is taken into account.

“These recognitions are a tribute to the tremendous work of our faculty, staff, and students,” said Ithaca College President La Jerne Terry Cornish. “Our teaching mission is rooted in the learning model of theory, practice, and performance. Because they are both practitioners and educators, our faculty have the resources to bring research and innovation to their fields, while delivering immersive, experiential learning to our students. We remain committed to ensuring that this learning experience is also accessible and affordable to students and their families.”

U.S. News & World Report regularly ranks Ithaca College among the best regional universities, which the publication says are those that offer a broad scope of undergraduate degrees and some master’s degree programs, but few, if any, doctoral programs. Ithaca College has a doctoral degree program in physical therapy and will be launching one in occupational therapy next year. For this category, the rankings are divided into four regions — North, South, Midwest, and West. The magazine also has separate rankings for national universities, national liberal arts colleges, and regional colleges.

For more information on the rankings, visit usnews.com/best-colleges.