BOSTON -- Suffolk University has been ranked in the top tier of universities in its category by U.S. News & World Report.

The U.S. News 2009 rankings list the University among the first tier of "Best Universities-Master's" in the North.

The master's institutions, as designated by U.S. News, "provide a full range of undergraduate and master's programs." Suffolk University also offers doctoral programs in psychology and economics.

There are 572 universities ranked in the master's category nationwide, and the rankings cover four geographic areas: North, South, Midwest and West. The North includes 165 institutions in the six New England states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Washington D.C.

The U.S. News rankings consider the opinions of the academic community, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate and alumni giving.

Suffolk University has also been named one of "The Best 368 Colleges" by the Princeton Review. The University is cited in the Review's 2009 edition for its academics, downtown Boston location, campus life and student body. It is the fifth consecutive year the University has made the list.

The Princeton Review profile highlights Suffolk's international ties that draw a large number of overseas students to the Boston campus. Suffolk campuses in Madrid and Dakar, Senegal, along with partnerships with universities in cities such as Prague, make it easy to study abroad.

In the Princeton Review's profile, students describe Suffolk as "a small classroom university in the heart of a big city" with "down-to-earth professors" and a huge international draw.

Suffolk University, located on Boston's historic Beacon Hill, with international campuses in Madrid and Dakar, Senegal, is a comprehensive global institution distinguished by the teaching and the intellectual contributions of its faculty. Suffolk University offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs in more than 70 areas of study. Its mission is to provide access to excellence in higher education to students of all ages and backgrounds, with strong emphasis on diversity. Suffolk has a combined enrollment of more than 9,000 full-time and part-time students in its Law School, College of Arts and Sciences and Sawyer Business School, and there are 60,000 alumni worldwide.