Six Jesuit schools broke into the top 100 “Best National Universities” in this year’s rankings from U.S. News and World Report.

Two Jesuit universities tied for a single spot. Sister Jean’s star power led Loyola University Chicago to jump 21 spots in the rankings to number 89—a place they share with their Midwestern neighbor, Marquette.

Meanwhile, Georgetown came in at 22, Boston College at 38, Fordham at 70 and the University of San Francisco creeped in at 96.

Across the nation Jesuit Universities topped their regional rankings. Creighton, Fairfield and Santa Clara all earned the top spot in their respective geographic regions.

Across the nation Jesuit Universities topped their regional rankings. Creighton, Fairfield and Santa Clara all earned the top spot in their respective geographic regions.

For “Regional Masters Universities,” Jesuit schools were represented best in the West, with Santa Clara (1), Loyola Marymount (3), Gonzaga (4) and Seattle (8), taking four of the top 10 spots. In the Midwest, Creighton (1), John Carroll (4) and Xavier (8) worked their way into the top 10. The Jesuits performed similarly well in the North, where Fairfield (1), Loyola Maryland (5) and Scranton (6) ranked highly.

Fourteen Jesuit universities were recognized as being in the top 25 “Best Value Schools” for their given regions. Canisius (North, 10), Gonzaga (West, 6), John Carroll (Midwest, 8) and Le Moyne (North, 5) performed best.

Many schools were recognized for “Best Undergraduate Teaching Programs”—colleges with a strong commitment to teaching undergraduates, as opposed to research. Creighton, Fairfield, Gonzaga, Scranton and Xavier all placed in the top five of their respective regions.

Jesuit schools also performed strongly on the list for “Best Colleges for Veterans.” Creighton came in number one in the Midwest, and Georgetown, John Carroll, Loyola Marymount, Saint Joseph’s and Santa Clara ranked among the top five in their respective regions.

Ciaran Freeman is an art teacher at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., and is a former O’Hare fellow at America Media.