The Air Force Academy's Aeronautics and Astronautics programs were named best in the nation, among colleges offering bachelors and master's degrees, according to the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2017 rankings released Sept. 13.

The school ranked third in the best public National Liberal Arts College category and seventh in the Best Undergraduate Engineering Program category, tying with Bucknell University (Lewisville, Pennsylvania).

The rankings are generated through a formula, drawing 77.5 percent of a college's score from several criteria, including graduation rate, retention, faculty resources and alumni giving.  The remaining data comes from peer assessment, such as how other college presidents, provosts and deans of admission rank theirs and other colleges.

At the Academy, the student-faculty ratio is 8:1, average class size is 20, 100 percent of the faculty is full-time and zero classes are taught by teaching assistants.

Academy rankings

-- Third best Public National Liberal Arts College, tied with Bucknell, Pitzer College (Claremont, California) and College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Massachusetts)

-- Fourth best Electrical/Electronic/Communications, tied with Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, California) and California Polytechnical State University (San Luis Obispo, California)

-- Seventh best Mechanical Engineering, tied with Kettering University (Flint, Michigan) and the U.S. Military Academy (West Point, New York)_

- Forty eighth Best Business Programs, tied with several universities including Pepperdine University (Malibu, California) and Southern Methodist University (Dallas).

-- Fourth in High School Counselor rankings of National Liberal Arts Colleges, in a six-way tie with Harvey Mudd, Smith College (Northhampton, Massachusetts), Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, New York), Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine) and Wellesley College (Wellesley, Massachusetts).