CANTON – For the first time, SUNY Canton has made its way into the annual U.S. News & World Report college rankings.

The Canton college has been ranked among the Top Regional Colleges in the 2012 edition of U.S. News’s "Best Colleges."

The college earned a ranking of 43rd on the “Regional Colleges-North” list. Selection in the category is based on colleges that focus on undergraduate education but grant fewer than half their degrees in liberal art disciplines. The North division includes colleges in the Northeastern United States.

"As far as I know, this is the first time SUNY Canton has been included in these prestigious rankings, and we are extremely happy and proud to be among the select colleges honored," said SUNY Canton President Joseph L. Kennedy.

College officials believe SUNY Canton's growing reputation and ranking is the result of many strategic initiatives and programs over the last several years.

"We've seen our successes play out in our classrooms, in our student groups and organizations, and on our athletic fields. It's encouraging to know those successes are being acknowledged by others, too," Kennedy said.

The 2012 rankings include fewer than half of all colleges in the country. U.S. News & World Report has been compiling rankings and publishing them for 28 years, grouping schools based on categories created by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Colleges are compared against their peer institutions on a variety of factors including graduation and retention rates, class size, and selectivity.

The rankings will be published in the September issue of U.S. News & World Report.

More information on the rankings is available now at www.usnews.com/colleges.