SUNY Potsdam and St. Lawrence University were named to the best regional university list in the Northern United States by U.S. News & World Report.

SUNY Potsdam has once again been named one of the best regional universities in the Northern United States by U.S. News & World Report.

SUNY Potsdam was ranked in the top tier of public and private institutions in the Northern Regional Universities category in the 2016 edition of "America's Best Colleges," released today by U.S. News Media Group.

This is the eighteenth consecutive year that the college has been recognized in the rankings.

SUNY Canton has moved up 21 spots and received a new mention for its student diversity in this year’s U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings.

The college jumped from 44 to 23 on the list of Regional Colleges North rankings and was ranked 13 in Top Public Schools. It is noted among its peer universities and is one of only six SUNY colleges in the category.

New this year, the college was noted for its diverse student body. Approximately 28 percent of students at SUNY Canton identify as belonging to an ethnic minority group and 25 percent identify as an under-represented minority.

These rankings are established using data provided to U.S. News by SUNY Canton. Eligible schools are ranked on key measures including graduation and retention rates, assessment of excellence, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance, alumni giving, and other statistics.

SUNY Canton has previously been recognized by the publication, having earned a mention on the 2016 “Best Online Programs” list. The college offers nine fully online bachelor’s degree programs in a number of disciplines, including finance, management, nursing and healthcare.

St. Lawrence University moved up seven spots in the latest U.S. News & World Report release of its “Best Colleges” guidebook.

In the 2017 edition, which was released on Sept. 13, U.S. News ranked St. Lawrence number 53 best National Liberal Arts Colleges, up from 60 a year ago.

U.S. News categorizes national liberal arts colleges as institutions that focus almost exclusively on undergraduate education and award at least 50 percent of their degrees in the arts and sciences, such as languages, literature, biology and life sciences, philosophy, and psychology. The ranking included 219 private and 20 public institutions.

Fewer than half of the nation’s higher educational institutions—about 1,400 colleges and universities—are ranked in any category by the magazine.

The university also remained on U.S. News’ list of A+ Schools for B Students.

In USA Today’s College Factual ranking released Sept. 8, St. Lawrence placed number 13 out of 111 Best New York Colleges and number 91 out of out of 1,387 Best Nationwide Colleges. College Factual also placed St. Lawrence in the top 1 percent of highest paid graduates in the fields of economics, biology, communications and media studies, and philosophy and religious studies.

U.S. News’ profile of St. Lawrence can be found at http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/st-lawrence-....

Recently, The Princeton Review commended St. Lawrence University for its loyal alumni network, robust study abroad programs and active student government in its “Best 381 Colleges: 2017 Edition,” which was released on Aug. 29.

Clarkson University is again in the top tier of national universities, in U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 rankings of "Best Colleges."

Clarkson's Supply Chain Management program was listed among the best in the nation, ranked number 20 in Supply Chain Management/Logistics. Clarkson is among only five private institutions in the ranking, which also includes MIT, Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania.

Clarkson is also again on the U.S. News "Great Schools, Great Prices" list (Best Value Schools), which takes into account a school's academic quality, as indicated by its U.S. News Best Colleges ranking, and the 2015-2016 net cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid.

U.S. News also ranks Clarkson among its "Best Colleges for Veterans" in the National University category. The list provides military veterans and active-duty service members with data on which top-ranked schools offer benefits that can help them make pursuing a college education more affordable.

The survey editors also placed Clarkson University in the "A+ Options for B Students" list, which they identify as strongly rated schools that accept nonsuperstars who have potential and will work hard.

Clarkson is among the top 10 four-year colleges in the nation adding the most value to student earnings potential, according to value-added college rankings from the Brookings Institution, which look at colleges' direct contributions to alumni salaries. The report says that getting a degree from Clarkson University can increase earnings by 42 percent.

Clarkson also ranked second in graduate salaries among all 40 Upstate New York colleges, with a mid-career median salary of $117,000, according to the PayScale 2016 College Salary Report. Clarkson is at the top nationally, as well, with its graduates ranked in the top 3 percent of highest salaries, and graduates with additional degrees ranked in the top 2 percent.

Each year U.S. News surveys 1,374 accredited four-year institutions for their annual “Best Colleges” issue. Schools in the "National Universities" category, like Clarkson, offer a full range of undergraduate majors, graduate and Ph.D. programs and emphasize faculty research.

U.S. News & World Report bases the Best Colleges rankings on assessment by peer institutions, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

The news organization classifies regional universities as public and private colleges that provide a full range of undergraduate majors and master's programs, but offer few, if any, doctoral programs.

The 577 regional universities that U.S. News & World Report examined for this year's guide were ranked against their peer group in four geographic regions -- the north, south, midwest and west, and rated as either top or second tier.

The U.S. News & World Report rankings is published in the September issue of the magazine.