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The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse once again has been named one of the best universities in the Midwest.

UW-L ranked No. 2 among Midwest public universities that offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees on the U.S. News and World Report’s 2009 “America’s Best Colleges” list.

UW-L tied with the University of Northern Iowa, school officials announced Thursday.

“This is wonderful recognition of the high-quality learning experience and outstanding value we offer to our students,” said UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow. “As we implement our Growth, Quality and Access plan over the next few years, we look forward to even greater gains in the highly regarded U.S. News rankings.”

The university ranked No. 3 on the 2008 list. UW-L has appeared on the U.S. News list each of the past 10 years and has been among the top three every year since 2002.

The report notes in its “Great Schools, Great Prices” survey of Midwest master’s campuses that 62 percent of seniors who graduated from UW-L carried an average debt load of $12,145 — second lowest on its “Debt Load, Class of 2007” list.

U.S. News rankings system uses quantitative measures that education experts believe are reliable indicators of academic quality, as well as a nonpartisan view of what matters in education.