Colby-Sawyer College has again been recognized as one of the top colleges in the region by U.S. News & World Report, earning top 10 rankings in three categories in its 2021 Best Colleges issue.

Released on Monday, the annual report ranks Colby-Sawyer in the top 10 in its Best Regional Colleges – North category for a fourth straight year, while also recognizing the college in its Best Value Schools – North and Social Mobility – North categories. Colby-Sawyer ranks first among New Hampshire institutions in all three categories.

“Colby-Sawyer is pleased to be recognized as a top 10 institution in three categories of such importance,” Colby-Sawyer College President Susan D. Stuebner said. “This recognition speaks to the all-around strength of the institution as well as to the value of the education we offer. We are delighted with these outcomes.”

Colby-Sawyer ranks eighth in the report’s Best Regional Colleges – North list for a second straight year, placing ahead of 53 similarly sized institutions from Pennsylvania to Maine. The category ranks both public and private institutions focused on undergraduate education that grant fewer than 50% of their degrees in liberal arts disciplines. Of the seven schools to place ahead of Colby-Sawyer in the category, five are publicly funded.

The college’s best ranking — a fifth-place standing in the report’s Best Value Schools – North list — came in a category that recognizes the overall value of institutions. According to U.S. News, schools are ranked based on several criteria, including a quality-to-price ratio, distribution of need-based aid and overall undergraduate costs covered through scholarships or grant awards.

Colby-Sawyer also received its first-ever ranking in U.S. News’s Social Mobility – North category, placing in a two-way tie for ninth with the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in the field of 28. The category made its debut in the report’s 2020 Best Colleges issue, and recognizes institutions for advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded Pell Grants.

“Colby-Sawyer is especially pleased to be a top 10 social mobility institution,” Stuebner said. “As an institution that has had a long-time commitment to enrolling Pell-eligible students and fostering their success, this recognition means a great deal to us.”

U.S. News groups colleges into categories based on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, which it calls the most widely accepted classification system in U.S. higher education. The report bills itself as the top peer benchmarking and performance assessment tool in higher education.