Lighter debt loads for their graduates once again earned three Utah universities laudable rankings from U.S. News & World Report.

The magazine's annual report on best colleges was released this past week, listing the University of Utah, Utah State University and privately owned Brigham Young University as among the best at graduating students with the least amount of debt.

Fred Esplin, U. vice president for university relations, attributed the U.'s seventh-place ranking in that category partly to a pay-as-you go attitude among Utahns, many of whom work while going to school. Also, Utah tuition remains lower compared to elsewhere.

"It's a real educational bargain," Esplin said.

About 41 percent of U. graduates leave the school with debt, and the average load is $11,496, according to U.S. News.

USU finished 12th on the low-debt list, and BYU was 13th. About half of USU graduates have debt, the average being $12,430. Only 34 percent of BYU graduates have debt, with the average being $12,478.

BYU moved up from 74th last year to 71st on the magazine's list of best national univer sities.

"We're very pleased with the rankings because they accurately reflect improvements being made at BYU," university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said. "Our freshman retention rate continues to improve as well as our graduation rate," two categories considered in the ranking of best national universities.

The U. fell nine spots to 120th on that list, and USU moved up a few notches from 181st last year.

BYU also was listed as 22nd in the "Great Schools, Great Prices" category and 35th in the best business programs category.

The U. continued its climb in the rankings for having one of the best engineering schools in the country — it ranked 57th among public schools that have a doctorate as the highest degree. The U. has jumped 10 places in two years in this category.

Esplin was proud of the U. being listed in the magazine's section entitled "Programs to Look For," for its efforts in the area of service learning.

"What it shows is the ability we've had to integrate service to the community with learning in the classroom," Esplin said.

A smaller academic climber is Westminster College, which tied at the number 20 spot among the magazine's rankings of "Best Universities — Master's" in the Western region. It's the 11th consecutive year Westminster has been ranked by U.S. News in this category — Weber State University tied for 49th in this category.

"In a region dominated by large universities that focus much of their resources on research, Westminster, with our singular focus on students and their learning, is an important, high-quality alternative among the other higher education options in the region," Westminster President Mich ael Bassis said in a press release.

Other schools that made U.S. News' rankings:

• Utah Valley State College, in the Best Comprehensive Colleges and Least Debt categories.

• Brigham Young Univer sity-Hawaii, in the Lowest Acceptance Rate, Least Debt and Great Schools, Great Prices categories.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com, twalch@desnews.com