UNL is highly ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s inaugural rankings of the Best Colleges for Veterans, released earlier this month.

The university checked in at No. 15 among national universities, joining fellow Big Ten members Penn State University, Indiana University and the University of Iowa in the top 15.

UNL and other “best colleges for veterans” scored well in terms of graduation rate, faculty resources, reputation and other markers of academic quality in the 2014 edition of the U.S. News Best Colleges. To qualify for the new rankings, the schools had to be certified for the GI Bill and participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program and Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium.

The new rankings provide data and information on schools that offer federal benefits, including tuition and housing assistance, to veterans and active service members.

Among Big Ten members, PSU was No. 1, Iowa was No. 6, Indiana was No. 7 and UNL was No. 15 in the ranking of national universities. In all, there were 234 ranked schools from across all U.S. News ranking categories – national universities, national liberal arts colleges, regional universities and regional colleges.

“While all prospective students seek a good education from a reputable institution, our military veterans can take advantage of expanded educational benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill,” said Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer for U.S. News. “We developed these rankings to help them find a top-quality institution that also offers federal benefits that ease the burden of applying, paying for and completing a college degree.”

This past May, U.S. News published comparable rankings of the Best Online Programs for Veterans to help veterans and service members find and complete a quality online bachelor’s or master’s program regardless of their location. In that ranking, UNL’s Online MBA program was No. 3.