West Virginia University and WVU Institute of Technology continue to engineer a measure of success inwellengineering. And the Universitys business school showed a profit as well.

The WVU and WVU Tech undergraduate engineering programs and WVU ’s undergraduate business program are included among the best in the nation, according to the 2006 edition ofAmericas Best Collegesfrom U.S.News&World Report.

WVU s undergraduate engineering program is listed among the top 116 schools offering doctoral degrees, according to the rankings, which appeared Friday on the magazines Web site (USNews.com). The University is one of 15 schools tied for 102nd.

WVU Tech, meanwhile, is included among 97 institutions offering bachelors or masters degrees, sharing the rank of 78 with 20 other schools, the standings indicate. This is the sixth year that Techs engineering program has made the list.

The schools were also ranked last year.

The College of Business and Economics ranked 116 out of 166 schools having the best undergraduate business programs. Twenty-five schools are tied for that spot.

Peer evaluation was the basis for the engineering and other undergraduate program rankings, U.S. News said. Deans and senior faculty evaluated programs with which they are familiar in their respective disciplines.

There are 550 ABET -accredited engineering schools and 504 AACSB -accredited business programs in the nation.

Eugene Cilento, dean of WVU s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, said the University has been hovering around the top 100 engineering schools for the past few years.

While were delighted to be among the top 100 or so programs, our goal remains to be in the top 75 programs in five years,he said, noting that the college is already among the nations top 65 programs in terms of enrollment increases.

Some 107 faculty are teaching and performing research in emerging fields, Cilento said. These areas range from biometrics and computer forensics to the use of sensors in roads and bridges to track their conditions to nanotechnologythe research and development of building blocks finer than the hair on grandpas scalp.

Engineering graduates have gone on to jobs designing cars for the Big Three automakers, working on the NASA Mars rover project and exploring the world for new energy resources, Cilento added.

The College of Business and Economics ranking comes as the college begins the new school year with new Dean Stephen Sears, whose goals include attracting national attention.

The college has about 1,000 undergraduate students enrolled in six majors and 400 graduates in the Master in Business Administration and Executive MBA programs.

This is an important milestone for the college and comes at a very good time as we welcome a new dean who just assembled us for meetings focusing our attention on national recognitions of our outstanding programs,said college spokeswoman Connie Banta.The ranking is based on solid work already in place, but its just the beginning of what we can become.

The business college was also ranked in the 2004 edition.

Other WVU highlights in the U.S. News rankings:

• Once again, WVU was ranked in the third of four tiers among the nations best universities offering doctoral degrees. (The third and fourth tiers list the schools alphabetically; there is no second tier.) There are 248 doctoral-granting national institutions listed in these categories; WVU is the only national university in West Virginia in these rankings.

• WVU Tech was ranked in the third tier and WVU at Parkersburg in the fourth tier among the Souths best comprehensive colleges offering bachelors degrees

• Graduation rates, class sizes, acceptance rates, freshman retention rates and SAT /ACT scores were among the criteria U.S. News used in preparing overall rankings such as best universities and comprehensive colleges. These rankings include a first tier that lists the top schools in the category and third and fourth tiers that list other qualifying schools alphabetically.

We are very proud to be a significant national public university,said WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr.Students are choosing WVU in record numbers. We are increasing retention rates and attracting students with higher academic credentials. And, our students are getting good jobs upon graduationin some cases, our programs have 100 percent placement rates.

But our goal, of course, will be to move to the next tier over time. With all the initiatives WVU has undertaken, we will get there.

Americas Best Collegeswill appear on the newsstands Monday, Aug. 22.