CAMBRIDGE, Mass. ? Four America East institutions are ranked among the top 100 national universities in America according to the annual U.S. News & World Report survey released Thursday, August 21. Of the nation’s Division I and Football Championship Subdivisions, only the Ivy League had more institutions in the top 100.

Boston University, ranked 60 under Best National Universities, was the highest-ranked institution among America East schools. Binghamton University (ranked 77, tie), University of Vermont (89, tie) and Stony Brook University (96, tie) were also among the top-100-scored institutions.

University of New Hampshire also finished in the top tier of schools, which includes 130 universities, ranking in a tie for 113.

UMBC was tabbed fifth in the publication’s first-ever “schools to watch” ranking. This category represents a selection of 70 colleges and universities identified by top college officials in spring 2008 as schools that have recently made the most promising and innovative changes in academics, faculty, students, campus, or facilities.

To rank colleges and universities, U.S. News first assigns schools to a group of their peers, based on the basic categories developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2006. Those in the National Universities group are the 262 American universities (164 public and 98 private) that offer a wide range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and doctoral degrees; many strongly emphasize research.

In each category, data on up to 15 indicators of academic quality are gathered from each school and tabulated. Schools are ranked within categories by their total weighted score.

In addition, Binghamton (34, tie), Vermont (40, tie), and Stony Brook (45, tie) ranked among the top 50 public national universities in the country. Both Binghamton and Vermont improved upon last year’s rank, while Stony Brook held steady in the same spot as it stood last year.

A breakdown of the top 100 by conference:
ACC - 11
Big 10 - 11
Big 12 - 8
Ivy League - 8
Big East - 7
PAC 10 - 6
SEC - 5
America East - 4
Big West - 4
Colonial - 4
C-USA - 4
Atlantic 10 - 3
Patriot League - 2
West Coast - 1
Mid-American - 1
Sun Belt - 1