Oglethorpe University is once again ranked among the best National Liberal Arts Colleges by the U.S. News & World Report. Released this week, the annual Best Colleges rankings include the top 211 liberal arts colleges in the nation.

Additionally, Oglethorpe is designated a “top performer in social mobility,” ranking #120 among liberal arts schools in the nation.

The social mobility list highlights the colleges that U.S. News considers to be most successful in affecting social mobility of its graduates by enrolling and graduating students who have been awarded Pell Grants. These federal grants are generally awarded to students whose adjusted gross family income is under $50,000.

At Oglethorpe, approximately 40 percent of students are Pell-eligible and 40 percent are the first in their families to attend college.

This year, the methodology for the liberal arts colleges rankings also placed a greater emphasis on social mobility and outcomes, adding new indicators for evaluation that included graduation rates of first-generation students and Pell Grant recipients. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a list of indicators and key weighted measures of quality, including: peer assessment; first-year retention and graduation rates; graduation rate performance; borrower debt; Pell graduation rates and performance; financial resources; student-faculty ratio; and faculty salaries.

As defined by U.S. News, liberal arts colleges emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the arts and sciences, which include disciplines such as biological and physical sciences, English, history, foreign languages, and the visual and performing arts.

Universities nationwide are assessed annually by U.S. News in an effort to help prospective students and their families evaluate higher education choices.