U.S. News and World Report released its 2012 Best Colleges list on Tuesday. Kent State ranked 194 on the list for national universities.

The 2011 list ranked Kent State at 183. There are eight other universities ranked at 194 for 2012, including East Carolina University, Northern Illinois University and University of Montana.

U.S. News determined the rankings by looking at universities’ undergraduate and academic reputations, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performances and alumni giving.

U.S. News gives the universities a score based on these categories. The universities that tied in score are listed together in alphabetical order.

According to the report, a “National University” is a group of public and private institutions that “offer a full range of undergraduate majors, as well as master’s and doctoral degrees.”

Contact Kelly Tunney at [email protected].