Updated Sept. 13, 11:50 a.m.

The University moved up one spot to the coveted No. 50 rank on U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of the nation’s colleges.

After a two-year plateau at No. 53, GW climbed up two spots in 2010. The University has not been in the top 50 since 1998, when it was ranked 50th.

GW shares the 50th slot with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY and, for the second year in a row, Tulane University in New Orleans.

“Every year, a variety of organizations come out with rankings and surveys. Each is one indicator among many that help parents and prospective students decide which institution is right for them,” Provost Steven Lerman said in a statement Tuesday. “George Washington strives constantly to achieve excellence in all our academic programs and in the educational and cultural experience we provide to all our students.”

After last year’s rankings were released, the University likewise declined to comment in detail on the subject, opting to release a statement instead.

Administrators also sought to minimize the report’s results in 2009.

“The U.S. News rankings are taken as one among a number of measures as to how we are doing in improving GW academically and otherwise,” former Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald Lehman wrote in an e-mail that year.

U.S. News & World Report bases its rankings on a variety of criteria, including selectivity, class size, student-faculty ratio, freshman retention, alumni giving rate and peer assessments by presidents, provosts and admissions deans at other universities.