The rankings were released by U.S. News today, Aug. 21. The Guidebook with complete national rankings goes on sale Monday, Aug. 24.
Last year, CSU, Chico was ranked seventh among top public regional universities in the West.
U.S. News uses academic reputation, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving rate as criteria for judging schools.
"While there is general agreement among universities that magazine rankings are an imperfect way to judge schools, we are nevertheless flattered to be on the list," said Robert Hannigan, vice provost for Enrollment Management.
The top Western Regional Universities were ranked by U.S. News as follows (when schools are tied, the subsequent ranking number is dropped): Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (1); Western Washington University (2); Humboldt State University (3); Sonoma State University (also 3); CSU, Chico (5); Montana Tech—University of Montana (also 5); University of Nevada, Las Vegas (7); California State University, Fresno (8); and California State University, Hayward (also 8).
JW