Virginia Military Institute continues to be in the top ranks of liberal arts colleges, according to the latest ranking released today by U.S. News & World Report.

For the second year in a row, the Lexington military school ranked third among public liberal arts colleges in the nation, behind the U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Naval Academy. Prior to that, VMI held the No. 1 position for six years straight.

Among all liberal arts colleges, both public and private, VMI was ranked 71. That's the highest ranking the school has ever held among all colleges, a VMI news release said.

To create its rankings, the magazine considers such factors as a college's reputation as rated by academic leaders nationally, the retention of students, class size, the quality of the faculty, the quality of students, financial resources, graduation rate performance and the alumni giving rate.

VMI's engineering programs were included in the magazine's list of the nation's best undergraduate engineering programs at schools in which the highest degree is a bachelor's or master's degree. VMI placed 21st on that list this year, up from last year's ranking of 25th. The rankings in the engineering category are based exclusively on the reputation of the program.

Earlier this month, VMI ranked ninth in Forbes magazine's list of America's Best Public Colleges, just behind such institutions as the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary.