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For the sixth consecutive year, Longwood University (LU) is able to add the title of top 10 public universities offering the highest percentage of small classes in the South to its list of achievements.

The listing comes from the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings.

“I’m particularly proud to see that our hard work investing in full-time faculty and small class sizes where we know students thrive is being recognized,” Longwood President W. Taylor Reveley IV said.

Since 2013, Longwood has climbed to No. 7 from No. 12 among public institutions in the Southern regional category.

Among public and private regional universities, Longwood is again ranked in the top 20.

According to university officials, nearly two-thirds of Longwood classes have 20 or fewer students, and nearly all are taught by full-time faculty.

The university also moved up in the ranks when it comes to the Best Value in the South list. The university is listed as number 33.

“We think about affordability every day, which is why we have held tuition increases among the very lowest in Virginia these last few years,” Reveley said.

New for the 2021 U.S. News & World Report rankings included the inclusion of Longwood’s nursing program, one in which the university was labeled as Best Nursing Schools.

“I love LU because it has allowed me to learn academically but also learn about myself,” Junior Emily Griffen said. ‘I’ve had only the best of professors who want you to succeed. I chose LU because it already felt like home when I toured, and when I transferred here I knew immediately it was where I was supposed to be.”

According to U.S. News & World Report, college rankings include the latest statistics such as student-faculty ratio and the average federal loan debt of graduates.

The report also uses information schools reported directly to the publication on academic majors offered, application requirements, tuition and financial aid policies, student body demographics and campus life.