Baker University has been ranked No. 33 in the Midwest Best Regional Universities category by U.S. News and World Report for 2013.

Regional universities are considered institutions that provide undergraduate majors and master’s programs, but offer few, if any, doctoral programs.

Last year, Baker University was ranked No. 26 in that category.

“It’s really hard to move in big directions one way or the other. So it doesn’t in any way disturb me that we went down,” Rand Ziegler, vice president for institutional and faculty development, said. “Would I rather be No. 1 than 33? Yeah. But does it bother me in particular? No.”

According to the report, Creighton University, Butler University and Drake University are among the top Midwest Regional Universities.

Baker is the top-ranked Kansas university, with the next Kansas school being No. 70 Washburn University.

The ratings are based on data from 2011-2012 and are scored in 11 categories, with each category having a percentage of weight in the final score.

Taken into consideration are the average freshman retention rate, graduation rate, percentage of classes under 20 people and the student-to-faculty ratio, which is 13 to 1 at Baker.

“The smaller that is, 13 to 1, that means for every one faculty member there’s 13 students,” Ziegler said. “So, for the purposes of this ranking, the smaller the better. It implies closer relationships between faculty and students.”

Ratings are also based on percentage of faculty who are full-time, as a higher score indicates fewer adjunct and part-time faculty.

Other categories include students’ SAT/ACT scores from the 25th to the 75th percentile, acceptance rate into the university, freshmen in the top 25 percent of their high school class and the average alumni giving rate.

The biggest factor, 20 percent of the overall score, comes from a peer assessment score.

“Basically, it’s other schools’ impression of us. It’s based on zippo, other than just, has anybody heard of you or do you have some type of reputation in the region,” Ziegler said.

The high ranking that Baker has received can be a factor that weighs into a student’s decision in choosing a college, and is proof that the education students receive at Baker is high quality.

“I was actually not going to go to Baker,” freshman Cassady Clinkscale said. “Initially I was going to go to (University of Missouri). I’m actually kind of happy I didn’t now … we’ve got a really good reputation and the graduates are really hirable.”

The 2013 rankings from U.S. News and World Report went on newsstands Sept. 18.

The biggest factor, 20 percent of the overall score, comes from a peer assessment score.

“Basically, it’s other schools’ impression of us. It’s based on zippo, other than just, has anybody heard of you or do you have some type of reputation in the region,” Ziegler said. “Very, very, subjective, but interestingly enough it’s the highest weighted factor in all this.”

The 2013 rankings from U.S. News and World Report will be on newsstands Sept. 18.