BRADFORD, Pa. – The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford moved up in the rankings of the U.S. News’ annual Best Colleges report released Monday and was ranked 20^th overall among regional colleges in the North.

            The university moved up nine places from last year’s rankings. In a new category, Best Colleges for Veterans in the North, Pitt-Bradford ranked 9^th.

            Pitt-Bradford’s ranking also increased as a top public school in the North (12^th) and as a top performer on social mobility (27^th).

            “We’re very happy to see that Pitt-Bradford is doing well and has improved in these rankings,” said Richard Esch, president of Pitt-Bradford. “It shows the efforts of Pitt-Bradford’s faculty, staff and students to improve continuously are paying off, especially for students facing barriers.

            “It’s also gratifying that in this first year of rankings of best colleges for veterans, we were recognized for helping those who have served our country take on new goals for their lives outside of the military.”

            In the rankings, Pitt-Bradford was compared to other colleges in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

            This year, the magazine adjusted its formula for rankings. Editors considered factors like how often students from all backgrounds graduated, feedback from other college administrators, graduation rates and graduation rate performance, which is how well the actual graduation rate matches what was predicted, considering factors like low-income households and first-generation college students.

The magazine said it considers regional colleges those that focus on undergraduate education, but that grant fewer than 50% of degrees in liberal arts disciplines.

This is the third regional ranking Pitt-Bradford has received recently. Earlier this month, Washington Monthly named the campus the top public college in Pennsylvania on its list of Best Bang for the Buck Schools in the Northeast.

In August, The Princeton Review recognized Pitt-Bradford as one of the Best Regional Colleges in the North for the 20^th consecutive year.