Rising 15 spots from last year, Boston College is listed 22nd on Forbes’ 2016 Top Colleges in America ranking.

BC surpassed universities including Duke, Cornell, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Virginia. The University was ranked just under Georgetown University and seven of the eight Ivy League schools.

Forbes’ ranking was primarily determined by the schools’ Return On Investment (ROI) reports. The schools were judged based on the satisfaction of undergrads, whether students will graduate on time, students’ debt post-graduation, and graduate employment rates.

The top 25 schools all have retention rates of 94 percent or above, share the goal of meeting full demonstrated financial need through scholarships and grants, and have successful alumni, per Forbes’ requirements.

BC’s jump in the rankings could, in part, be attributed to the Carroll School of Management’s ranking as the third best undergraduate business school by Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

BC’s history department also rose to new heights this year, as BC was listed as the fifth-best college for a major in history, according to USA Today.

Twenty of the top 25 schools on the Forbes ranking are located in the Northeast. Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. however, took home the number one spot on Forbes’ list as the Top College in America.

Forbes partnered with the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, the Department of Education, Payscale, and the America’s Leaders list to come up with its ranking of the top 660 universities across the country.

“The ranking reflects the esteem in which the University is held nationally, and is an acknowledgment of the excellence of our faculty, students and senior leadership who have enabled Boston College to achieve this distinction,” Jack Dunn, director of the Office of News and Public Affairs, said in an email.

Featured Image by Julia Hopkins / Heights Editor