The University of Missouri–St. Louis ranked No. 118 among public universities in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 ‘Best Colleges’ rankings, released on Monday.

The University of Missouri–St. Louis continues to climb in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” rankings.

UMSL was once again regarded as a Tier 1 national university, moving up eight places to No. 118 among public universities in the 2022 rankings unveiled on Monday. UMSL climbed 19 places in the overall rankings, bringing its two-year rise to 42 places – the sixth-highest improvement in the nation during that span. It also received its highest-ever total score in the 17 measures U.S. News uses to inform the rankings.

“Our faculty and staff strive to ensure that our students receive a high quality and affordable education, and I’m pleased to see their efforts validated by these latest rankings,” Chancellor Kristin Sobolik said. “We measure our own success through the outcomes of our students, over 3,000 of whom earned their degrees this past year as we continue to increase their retention and graduation rates. Our focus is on the success of our students, and our increasing positive results reflect that.”

UMSL continues to excel at helping students improve their socioeconomic status by achieving a college degree. The university ranked in the top 100 on U.S. News’ list of “Top Performers on Social Mobility,” which highlights how well universities have graduated students who receive federal Pell Grants.

UMSL has long served a significant number of Pell Grant-eligible students, including 44 percent of the entering class considered for the rankings. Pell Grant recipients come from households whose family incomes are less than $50,000 annually, though most Pell Grant money goes to students with a total family income below $20,000.

U.S. News also included UMSL on its list of A+ Schools for B Students. The list is meant to highlight institutions that show desirable outcomes for students entering with average test scores and high school class rankings. To be eligible, a university had to rank among the top three-quarters of its peer groups in the 2022 Best Colleges list and admit a meaningful proportion of non-A students. No more than 50 percent of students could be ranked among the top 10 percent of their high school class. U.S. News also required freshman retention rates of 75 percent or higher, indicating satisfaction of first-year students.

Several academic programs made gains in the latest rankings. UMSL moved up 11 places to No. 190 on the list of Best Undergraduate Business Programs and also climbed six places to No. 224 in the Undergraduate Computer Science rankings.

The College of Nursing ranked No. 120 for its Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs. The first-ever ranking is based solely on the judgment of deans and senior faculty members at nursing schools and departments around the country. To be eligible, institutions had to be accredited by either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing and have awarded at least 35 BSN degrees in 2018-19. There were 694 schools that met the criteria for the rankings.