Syracuse University rose 22 spots to No. 101 overall in education startup Niche’s 2016 best colleges rankings, released Monday.

One in two college-bound seniors will use Niche this year to research colleges, said Mark Tressler, Niche’s press contact, in an email. Niche provides reviews and insights about neighborhoods, colleges and K-12 schools, according to its website.

SU received an overall A grade with an A- in academics, A+ in athletics, A- in campus quality, A- in diversity, B in location, B+ in professors, A+ in student life and an A- in value, according to the email.

SU also received an A+ in party scene, an A in Greek life and transportation and an A- in administration. The university was graded a B+ in off-campus housing and technology and a B in campus food, campus housing and off-campus dining.

SU received poorer grades in areas such as health & safety (C), parking (C), weather (C) and drug safety (D-).

Niche’s rankings “go beyond basic statistics and strive to reflect student and alumni realities at each college,” Tressler said.

Niche ranks more than 1,100 schools across the United States, according to the website. The rankings are based on more than 50 statistical factors and millions of student reviews and also alumni data on earnings, employment and student loan debt, which was incorporated from the College Scorecard, according to Niche’s website.

Stanford University was voted the Best College in America, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at No. 2, Yale University at No. 3, Harvard University at No. 4 and Rice University at No. 5, according to the website.

SU’s peer institutions received the following rankings, according to the website:

• American University, No. 201
• Boston College, No. 78
• Boston University, No. 88
• Cornell University, No. 23
• Georgetown University, No. 18
• George Washington University, No. 106
• Lehigh University, No. 58
• Marquette University, No. 128
• Northeastern University, No. 67
• Northwestern University, No. 30
• Southern Methodist University, No. 75
• Tulane University, No. 94
• University of Dayton, No. 114
• University of Notre Dame, No. 13
• University of Rochester, No. 80
• Vanderbilt University, No. 17

Published on September 29, 2015 at 9:18 pm

Contact Alexa: atorrens@syr.edu