Boston University moved up one notch, from 42 to 41, in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of the nation’s colleges and universities. In the latest rankings, released in September, BU also was named to the lists of “high school counselors’ top college picks,” “foreign student factor,” and “best colleges for veterans.”

In compiling this year’s rankings of more than 1,600 four-year colleges and universities, U.S. News considered numerous factors, includ­ing peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, and alumni giving.

BU’s overall rank of 41 puts it in a 6-way tie with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Tulane University, University of California, Davis, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

BU was awarded an overall score of 61 on a 100-point scale. The report lauded the University’s “highly ranked graduate schools,” including the School of Law, the Questrom School of Business, the College of Engineering, the School of Education, and the School of Medicine, which it cited for having the “nation’s first combined cancer research and teaching laboratory.”

Princeton University took the top spot in this year’s ranking, followed by Harvard at number two. Other local area schools joining BU in the top 50 include MIT (7), Tufts (27), Boston College (30), Brandeis (34), and Northeastern University (47).

At BU, military veterans and active-duty service members can take advantage of both the GI Bill and the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ Yellow Ribbon Program, which provides financial assistance to service members who have served at least 36 months since 9/11. Those factors, combined with BU’s high overall U.S. News ranking, put the school 33rd on the list of best national universities for veterans.

Last spring, U.S. News ranked three Metropolitan College on­line master’s programs for military veterans among the nation’s best.

MET’s Criminal Justice pro­gram tied for second place with Arizona State University and Pace University. The University of California, Irvine, won the top spot among the 33 schools ranked.

The college’s Computer Informa­tion Systems took third place among 26 schools ranked, behind the Uni­versity of Southern California and Virginia Tech. And MET’s non-MBA master’s program in business ranked seventh out of 75.