In the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, the University of Virginia’s standing remains the same as last year’s: second among national public universities and 23rd among all American colleges and universities.

The 2009 rankings mark the fifth straight year that UVA has been second among public universities, behind the University of California, Berkeley. The University has been first or second in each of the 12 years since the magazine began publishing a separate ranking of national public universities.

UVA’s standing among all universities, public and private, has also remained remarkably stable. It has been ranked between 20th and 24th every year since 1997, and has appeared in the top 24 every year since the magazine’s rankings first appeared in 1988.