University of the Pacific placed in the top 100 among nearly 800 U.S. universities and ranked No. 18 overall in the West, according to The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education.

Pacific rose to No. 96 nationally, 17 positions better than last year’s rankings by the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education among 797 institutions nationwide. That is the top 12 percent in the nation.

The university also came in at No. 11 among private universities in the West and No. 3 among West Coast Conference schools.

The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education rankings look at 15 indicators focused on student success, resources, student engagement and environment. The rankings are “designed to answer the questions that matter most to students and their families when making one of the most important decisions of their lives – who to trust with their education.”

Pacific scored extremely high on the most weighed measure – the value added by the college to salaries 10 years after graduation. Pacific scored 99.6 out of 100.

The university also scored highly on the amount of money spent on teaching per student and student engagement, student interactions and diversity.

“These rankings illustrate the high quality and value of a Pacific education,” said Pacific President Christopher Callahan. “They also are a testament to our extraordinary faculty, who have devoted their careers to the success of our students.”

The full methodology can be found here.