CANYON, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — According to the newly released rankings from U.S. News and World Report, West Texas A&M University has been named one of the top schools in the West.

According to the officials, WTAMU ranked at number 20 among Best Value Schools in the West. The University also rose to number 56 in the magazine’s Regional Universities West list, and last but not least, WTAMU placed at number 27 in the list of Top Public Universities in the West.

Among the achievements listed above, officials mentioned that WTAMU ranked among the Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs, Best Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs, and Top Performers on Social Mobility.

“We are pleased by the spotlight U.S. News and World Report annual rankings continue to shine on WT’s academic degree programs,” said Dr. Neil Terry, executive vice president and provost. “Providing quality degree options that earn national recognition while maintaining cost-effective pricing is a competitive advantage for many of our majors.”

Officials stated the U.S. News Best College rankings provide data-driven information and guidance to help students and their families understand their higher education options.

“These rankings reinforce the values that are found at WT,” said President Walter V. Wendler. “Our commitment is to teaching excellence while remaining focused on serving the Texas Panhandle region. We are proud to be the Panhnadle’s University and continue this tradition of excellence.”

U.S. News directory of institutions contains each school’s rankings data and key characteristics about majors, campus life, costs of attending, and more. Users can filter schools by selected academic and non-academic characteristics along with the user’s priorities. Only academic data from U.S. News’ surveys and reliable third-party sources are used to calculate each ranking factor, said officials.

Officials detailed that the definition of social mobility changed this year in the National Universities ranking to include first-generation graduation rates, in addition to Pell-recipient graduation rates.

According to officials, to place more emphasis on social mobility and outcomes, new factors were added to this year’s rankings, including first-generation graduation rates, first-generation graduation rate performance, and the proportion of college graduates earning more than a high school graduate.

The press release also stated that earlier this year, WT earned 11 total Best Program awards for online programs, including the number one online bachelor’s program for veterans and the number three online MBA program for veterans.