Western Carolina University maintained its top 10 ranking on a list of leading public regional universities in the south in the 2011 U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” guidebook released Aug. 17

For the second year in a row, the guide ranks WCU at the No. 10 spot among the south’s public regional universities.

In addition, the U.S. News & World Report ranks WCU third among southern universities whose graduates had the least amount of debt load in 2009.

The category in which WCU appears includes higher education institutions that offer a wide range of bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and that tend to attract most of their students from surrounding states.

The annual rankings are based on a variety of indicators, including assessment by administrators at peer institutions, graduation rate, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.