The U.S. News and World Report 2016 rankings of best colleges were released at midnight on Wednesday, September 9.

Binghamton University was ranked 89th this year, and is tied with the University of Vermont, SUNY Stony Brook, University of Colorado Boulder, University of San Diego and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Last year, BU was ranked 88th nationwide.

BU also ranked among the top 50 public universities nationwide for the 18th year in a row. The ranking moved up one spot this year to 37, from 38 last year. BU is tied in this category with North Carolina State University, SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, University of Vermont and University of Colorado Boulder.

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Donald Nieman said that BU’s drop in the rankings was relatively meaningless, and that it was not a representation of the University’s progress.

“Binghamton remains among the top public universities in the nation,” Nieman said. “Negligible changes in one of the dozen categories that are part of the formula used by US News can push a university up or down a spot or two, so it’s not appropriate to read much if anything into small variations from year to year.”

U.S. News ranks colleges based on a variety of data and statistics, such as college guidance counselor rankings, graduation and retention rates, endowment size, student-to-faculty ratios and acceptance rates. Binghamton University currently reports a student to faculty ratio of 20:1, an acceptance rate of 44.1 percent and a freshmen retention rate of 91 percent.

In a statement released by the University, Nieman said that the rankings reflected a level of success at BU that he is proud of.

“The attention paid to these rankings also reflects well on all that we have accomplished in recent years,” he said. “We’ve grown significantly while maintaining, and in fact, improving quality, as shown by our strong incoming class.”

President Harvey Stenger said that the U.S. News rankings are commonly used by applicants in choosing which colleges to apply to, and are frequently used as a reference and resource when evaluating a university. While he said that the rankings are in no way a comprehensive representation of all that a college has to offer, they do show a glimpse into what a university has to offer.

“Colleges and universities across the country frequently benchmark themselves against their peers, just as we do,” Stenger said. “It is gratifying to know that prospective students and their families who use rankings as a tool in their college searches will again see Binghamton University in good company.”