Williams Baptist College has moved upward in the latest rankings of US News & World Report. The magazine issued its annual college edition Wednesday, showing that WBC is now ranked 51st among Southern colleges, which is eight spots higher than last year.

The issue marks the sixth year in a row for Williams to be listed in the magazine’s “top tier” of colleges in the South.

“The US News ranking represents a true affirmation of the quality education that Williams Baptist College provides its students,” said Dr. Tom Jones, president of WBC. “The fact that Williams continues to move upward in the rankings also indicates that our reputation continues to grow.”

The US News rankings are based on a wide ranging series of criteria, including class sizes, student-to-teacher ratio, student retention and peer reputation score.

“WBC has always excelled in its personal attention to students, and that is a key reason for this good ranking in US News. Our low student-to-teacher ratio and small class sizes are both reflected in the rankings,” Jones noted.

Williams is a four-year, Christian, liberal arts college at Walnut Ridge.