BELLINGHAM - Western Washington University was recently named to two national college ranking lists: the annual U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges" and G.I. Jobs' "Military Friendly Schools."

For the fourth year in a row, WWU was ranked by U.S. News as the third-best public, master's degree-granting university in the West, a region stretching from Texas to Alaska. WWU was the highest-ranked university on the list from the Pacific Northwest; The Evergreen State College was ranked fifth and Central Washington University was ranked 13th.

When compared to public and private master's-granting schools in the West, WWU ranked 22nd, one spot below last year's ranking.

There are separate rankings for doctoral-granting schools and liberal arts colleges.

Schools are ranked based on a variety of criteria, including academic reputation, student retention, faculty resources, tuition, financial aid availability and extracurricular activities.

To see the full list, go to usnews.com and click on the "colleges" link.

G.I. Jobs, a website to help veterans, named WWU a "Military Friendly School" for the second year.

WWU is one of 1,518 schools across the country to earn the distinction, which means they "offer you (veterans) the best education, value and welcome," according to the website.

The list is based on 8,000 surveys sent to schools nationwide. "Military Friendly" schools were determined based on several factors, including the types of on-campus veteran support, the school's ability to recruit and retain veteran students, the number of veterans enrolled in the school and the amount of money spent on programs and scholarships for veteran students.

To view a list of all "Military Friendly" schools, go to militaryfriendlyschools.com.