For the second year in a row, OU was ranked 108th by U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best colleges and universities in the nation.

The magazine’s annual rankings, which were released Friday, list 262 schools in a special issue which is distributed throughout the country.

The administration’s reaction to news of the ranking was that “we are pleased that OU is the only public university in the state in the top tier,” according to an e-mail from Jay Doyle, press secretary and special assistant to OU President David L. Boren.

However, Doyle went on to write, “the U.S. News rankings fail to truly encompass all of the aspects that contribute to the academic success of students. The University of Oklahoma excels in creating a community atmosphere on campus... and developing study abroad agreements and exchanges (we currently are top in the nation with 174). All of these areas that OU believes create a great institution are not among the factors considered by U.S. News.”

OU is one of seven Big 12 schools and two Oklahoma schools to make the list. The University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Baylor University, the University of Colorado, the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri are all ranked ahead of OU. Kansas State University is behind OU at No. 130.

The University of Tulsa is the only other Oklahoma school in the rankings; it was listed as 83rd in the report.

According to its Web site, U.S. News & World Report assigned scores to schools based on data it gathered in seven areas: the assessment of the university by peer institutions; retention and graduation of students; faculty resources; selectivity; financial resources; alumni giving and graduation rate performance, which measures the percentage of students that actually graduate against the percentage that should graduate.

Peer assessments carry the most weight in calculating the rankings; according to the Web site, 25 percent of a school’s score is based on its reputation among other members of the academic world.

Harvard, Princeton and Yale top the list with scores of 100, 99 and 98, respectively. OU earned a 38. The Big 12’s highest score belongs to the University of Texas, which earned a 57.