Earlier this week, the 2018 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings were released, which included Andrews University as one of the country’s most ethnically diverse national universities.

The ranking comes after a decade of significant diversification for Andrews University; in recent years, the university was listed as second most diverse in these U.S. News rankings, but a decade ago, the university ranked 13th in the same campus ethnic diversity category.

This new number one ranking for Campus Ethnic Diversity is shared with University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. The U.S. News Best Colleges determines its Campus Ethnic Diversity ranking on a 1.0 diversity index scale—this year, all three universities who received the number one ranking had a factor of .75 for ethnic diversity.

In response to this new ranking, Andrews University President Andrea Luxton notes that “in a global and diverse environment, a university community that reflects those realities offers an unparalleled opportunity for university students who are preparing to change the world; this is a core aspiration of our university’s mission statement: Seek Knowledge. Affirm Faith. Change the World.

“As a result, we’re proud to be ranked by the 2018 U.S. News Best Colleges as a joint number one national university within their annual rankings for Campus Ethnic Diversity. In addition, as one out of every five of our students comes to study from outside the United States each year, we’re also proud to be recognized as the 11th ranked national university for schools with the most international students.”

As Andrews University seeks to deepen commitments to and possibilities for its ethnically and culturally diverse community, it has recently appointed its first vice president for Diversity & Inclusion, Michael T. Nixon.

“Understanding and navigating an increasingly globally focused and diverse environment for careers and life isn’t something that is simply learned in a classroom,” says Nixon.

“At Andrews University, both cultural and ethnic diversity is literally a part of the fabric within our Andrews University community. With this number one national university ranking in Campus Ethnic Diversity comes a serious responsibility to thoughtfully engage the entire Andrews University community in navigating, celebrating and deeply understanding the opportunities that diversity brings to our campus community. It’s a great honor for me to be part of Andrews University’s exploration and strengthening all of those opportunities and more on a campus that is very nearly unequaled in the strengths that come from a university community that looks like the world we live in.”

In the overall 2018 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, Andrews University was #192 on a list of 311 National Universities included in that report.

Andrews University was also part of the rankings in “A+ Colleges for B Students,” “Most Students Receiving Merit Aid,” and “Highest Proportion of Classes With Fewer Than 20 Students” (this latter measurement seeks to assess which universities offer more personal instruction through a higher number of smaller classes — Stanford, MIT and Pepperdine all had similar rankings to Andrews University’s in this category).

Founded in 1874, Andrews University is the flagship institution of higher education for the Seventh-day Adventist Church and offers more than 200 areas of study including advanced degrees. Its main campus is in Berrien Springs, Michigan, but the University also provides instruction at colleges and universities in 19 countries around the world.

[Related link: https://premium.usnews.com/best-colleges]