Beau Yarbrough, Staff Writer
Created: 09/12/2012 11:48:41 AM PDT

About a dozen area colleges and universities have been spotlighted in one of the most prominent rankings of the nation’s colleges and universities.

U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2013 list, released Wednesday, lists 106 California colleges and universities on several lists, including 34 in the Los Angeles and Inland Empire regions.

In the Inland Empire, Cal Baptist in Riverside, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State San Bernardino, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, La Sierra University in Riverside, Pitzer College in Claremont, Pomona College in Claremont, Scripps College in Claremont, UC Riverside, the University of La Verne and the University of Redlands were ranked by the magazine.

The report’s authors base their list on “up to 16 indicators of academic excellence” from each college, weighted according to the magazine’s judgment about how important each measure is.

Although the list is viewed somewhat skeptically by some educators, it’s popular with the public. As a result, universities, including Claremont McKenna, have been caught goosing the data that goes into the rankings. (Claremont McKenna fell from No.9 to No.10 in the magazine’s list of national liberal arts schools this year.)

National universities

UC Riverside and the University of La Verne were highlighted on the magazine’s list of “national universities.”

“National Universities offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and Ph.D. programs, and emphasize faculty research,” according to the magazine.

UC Riverside was ranked No.101 among national universities. The University of La Verne came in at No.165.

“Once again, La Verne is proud to be recognized as a top-tier national institution,” university President Devorah Lieberman said Wednesday. “As a smaller school, we are especially pleased of what we have been able to achieve year after year. We look forward to even greater success in the future.”

National liberal arts colleges

Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer College, Pomona College and Scripps College were highlighted on the list of “national liberal arts colleges.”

“National Liberal Arts Colleges focus almost exclusively on undergraduate education. They award at least 50percent of their degrees in the arts and sciences,” according to the magazine.

Pomona College was named No.4 in the nation among national liberal arts colleges, tied with Middlebury College. Claremont McKenna was ranked No.10 (tied with Vassar College), Harvey Mudd was named No.12 12, Scripps College was ranked No.24 and Pitzer College came in at No.43.

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