Times Staff Report

VALPARAISO | Valparaiso University has ranked third in academic quality among Midwest master's-level colleges and universities for a second straight year in U.S. News & World Report magazine's annual rankings.

The rankings appear in the book "America's Best Colleges" and the weekly edition of the magazine, which goes on sale Monday.

VU has ranked in the top five in quality every year since 1990.

The university's College of Engineering also tied for 20th in the nation among schools where the highest degree awarded is a bachelor's or master's degree.

Valparaiso's program for first-year students was cited among "programs to look for" commonly linked to student success.

The university also ranked second in "peer assessment," which is determined by a survey of university presidents, provosts and deans of admission.

"We can take great pride in our longevity in the rankings, which is among the best for institutions in our category," university President Alan Harre said in a statement. "Consistently being ranked among the best of your peers is more gratifying to me than our ranking in any single year."

The magazine determines quality based on an evaluation of 15 "indicators of academic excellence" and an opinion survey of college and university academic leaders, then ranks the schools in each of four geographic regions.