Biola University has again been named one of America’s best colleges, earning high marks this fall on several annual college-ranking lists.

In September, U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges 2014 guide ranked Biola in the first tier of its “best national universities” list — a category that consists of 281 institutions that “offer a wide range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and doctoral degrees.” This year, Biola was ranked at No. 177 overall, one of only two national universities in the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) to be included in the first tier.

Biola was also included for the first time on The Princeton Review’s “2014 Best Colleges: Region by Region” list, an honor given in August to the top 25 percent of universities in each region of the country. The 124 colleges on the “Best in the West” list — located in 15 states — were selected based on academic reputations and student recommendations. Students quoted in Biola’s school profile noted the school’s rich Christian culture, biblical values and knowledgeable and passionate professors.

“My school has positively impacted my character, awareness of issues in society, relationships, and encouraged the formation of my own unique worldview in more ways than I could have imagined,” one student wrote.

Also in August, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Biola was sixth on the list of the nation’s fastest-growing private research universities from 2001 to 2011. The Chronicle also named Biola one of the nation’s 97 “Best Colleges to Work For” for a second year in a row — a distinction given as a result of employee surveys.

Meanwhile, the website Rate My Professors (ratemyprofessors.com) ranked Biola at No. 24 on the list of the nation’s top 25 universities — a list that also includes such schools as Duke, Vanderbilt, Penn State, Stanford and UCLA. The annual list, released in September, is based on student feedback about their professors and overall school quality.

And while not exactly a ranking system, Biola was also recently included on the brief list of “Schools Worth Attending” in the book Is College Worth It? by former United States Secretary of Education William Bennett. Biola was one of seven religious schools to appear on the list, which specifically highlighted the value of Biola’s Torrey Honors Institute and cinema and media arts program.