ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University continues to be recognized with the nation's finest. Ohio University is ranked 45th nationally among public national universities offering doctoral programs by U.S. News & World Report's annual "America's Best Colleges" edition.

U.S. News & World Report defines national universities-doctoral as institutions of higher learning that offer a wide variety of undergraduate majors as well as master's and doctoral degrees. Many of the ranked universities, including Ohio University, emphasize research. The category includes 249 universities.

Ohio University has been consistently ranked among the nation's top public universities by the publication.

"This recognition reflects upon the quality of our students, faculty and staff and underscores the university's commitment to providing a distinctive, meaningful educational experience for our students," Ohio University President Robert Glidden said. "Among the distinguishing features of the Ohio University approach to education are quality graduate programs and excellence in research. Our focus on student engagement, which involves students and faculty working together in research projects, supports this approach."

The magazine uses a number of factors to measure academic excellence. Among the factors are academic reputation, student retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate and alumni giving rate.