Chapman University in Orange is now ranked the sixth-best college in the western region by U.S. News & World Report, up from No. 7 last year.
The 2013 list of “best colleges” in the western region released today features 121 colleges and universities.
Chapman is the only school in the West Coast to be included in the “up and coming universities” category.
The school was ranked No. 61 in 1991, when it first gained university status.
President James Doti said the increases in ranking over the past two decades reflect “the steadily increasing quality of our students and recent and upcoming enhancements to our campus and academic programs.”
Chapman’s latest ventures include construction of a new classroom building in its historic center, groundbreaking on the new $64 million Musco Center for the Arts, and plans to build a new $100 million science center.
Other local schools were on the list of top colleges in the western region.
California State University, Fullerton, placed No. 31 among schools in the region, rising two spots.
Irvine-based Concordia University ranked No. 66 among regional schools. It was ranked No. 58 last year.
The University of California, Irvine, moved up on national rankings of universities to No. 44, up one spot from a year earlier.
Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo was No. 49 among liberal arts colleges nationally, climbing 15 spots.
