The U.S. News and World Report 2017 college rankings show that, among regional universities in the Midwest, Northern Michigan University is tied for 19th in Top Public Schools, 79th overall and 43rd in Best Colleges for Veterans.

NMU was one of only three Michigan universities to appear in the Best Colleges for Veterans category. Institutions had to meet the following criteria: be certified for the GI Bill; participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program or be a public school that charges in-state tuition to all out-of-state veterans; and appear in the top half of its U.S. News ranking category and report 20 or more students who used GI Bill benefits to partially or fully finance their tuition and fees for 2015-16.

Regional universities are defined as offering “a broad scope of undergraduate degrees and some master's degree programs but few, if any, doctoral programs.” They are further divided and ranked in four geographical groups, including the Midwest. U.S. News then gathers data from each college on up to 15 indicators of academic excellence. Each factor is assigned a weight that reflects U.S. News' judgment about how much that measure matters. Finally, the colleges and universities in each category are ranked against their peers, based on their composite weighted score.

To see the rankings, visit http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings