The University of Illinois at Chicago moved up in the annual “Best Colleges” rankings published today by U.S. News & World Report — climbing to 61 from 73 among top public schools in the nation and rising to 129 from 145 among all national universities.

UIC also placed among the top 15 ethnically diverse national universities.

“The rankings point to the continued importance we place on the academic quality and reputation of our faculty and programs,” says UIC Chancellor Michael D. Amiridis. “It is encouraging that our commitment to excellence and achievement nationally are being recognized through these rankings.”

Factors such as graduation and freshman retention rates and undergraduate academic reputation determine schools’ placement in the 2019 edition rankings.

UIC tied with five other public universities: University of Alabama, University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Texas-Dallas.

UIC also ranked among the top 100 for its undergraduate business and engineering programs; ranked as an A+ School for B Students among national universities; and was 129th among best value schools in the national universities category.

The magazine’s National Universities rankings include data from 312 public, private and for-profit U.S.-based colleges and universities. These universities offer a full range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and doctoral degrees. These colleges also are committed to producing groundbreaking research.