Mercer University remains in the top tier of national universities and climbed one spot to the No. 34 Best Value in U.S. News & World Report’s annual America’s Best Colleges issue, released today.

The best value ranking takes into account an institution’s academic quality and the previous year’s net cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid. Mercer rose five spots in the category – to No. 35 from No. 40 – last year.

Mercer’s overall ranking of No. 162 among 391 national universities ties it with nine other institutions, including private institutions Belmont and Hofstra and large public institutions Arkansas, Kansas State and Oregon State, among others.

Mercer is tied for No. 58 for Best Undergraduate Teaching alongside Emory, Georgia Tech, Michigan State and nine others.

The School of Engineering’s undergraduate program, consistently ranked among the nation’s top engineering programs that have bachelor’s or master’s as their terminal degrees, is tied for No. 53 – up seven spots from last year – based on surveys of engineering deans and senior faculty at accredited programs.

The College of Nursing is tied for 96th in U.S. News’ new ranking of undergraduate nursing programs.

Mercer also comes in at No. 120 among Top Performers on Social Mobility, which recognizes institutions that enroll and graduate a significant number of students who receive federal Pell Grants.

Additionally, the University is ranked among the top 150 Best Colleges for Veterans and top 250 undergraduate business programs.

The institutions ranked as national universities are evaluated based upon factors such as peer assessment, freshman retention, graduation rate, class size, student-faculty ratio, academic profile of entering class, acceptance rate and alumni giving.

To view the rankings and see more information on U.S. News and World Report’s ranking methodology, visit usnews.com/colleges.