California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks is ranked 18th on the 2010 U.S. News & World Report list of top schools in the West offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

CLU has placed among the top 20 western regional universities for 15 years.

The new rankings are posted at www.usnews.com and will be featured in the September edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine and the “2010 America’s Best Colleges” guidebook.

In the report, CLU maintained a spot in the top tier of institutions in 15 Western states based on high scores in the categories measured. CLU’s overall score increased over its 2009 assessment.

The categories in which CLU showed improvement include its rating by the country’s top academics and average freshman retention and graduation rates.

CLU’s selectivity also increased with improvements in freshman SAT scores and the percent of freshmen in the top 25 percent of their high school class as well as a decrease in the university’s acceptance rate.

In Forbes.com’s America’s Best Colleges 2009 report recently released, CLU ranked 210th among all private and public undergraduate institutions in the U.S., an increase over its 2008 ranking of 251.

The Forbes report was compiled in conjunction with the Center for College Affordability and Productivity as an alternative to the U.S. News rankings. It uses different criteria and ranks institutions based on the quality of education they provide and students’ experience and achievements. It doesn’t break the rankings into subcategories.

The report is available at www.forbes.com.