UCLA has been selected the No. 1 public university in the nation for the fourth year in a row in an overall national ranking of institutions of higher education by U.S. News & World Report.
Bill Kisliuk, a spokesman for UCLA, said the school's designation as the top public university reflects the depth and breadth of its academic programs.
"UCLA is routinely recognized as having more freshman applicants than any school in the country, greater economic diversity among our student body than our peers, and for providing great value for our students," he said in a statement.
In determining this year's rankings, U.S. News considered two new indicators for school affordability _ the average amount of federal loan debt for full-time undergraduate students at graduation and the percentage of students in a graduating class who took out a federal loan. It also gave more weight this year to social mobility and graduation and retention rates while giving less consideration to factors like standardized test scores, high school class standings and alumni donations.
Another change to this year's ranking reflects the increasing number of colleges that no longer require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores. Schools that did not require such scores were not considered in the past, but they're now included in this year's rankings.
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