CHICAGO - The National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) has once again ranked UC San Diego as the top Division II institution in the country in its annual Collegiate Power Rankings, it was announced on Tuesday. Ranked on the NCSA's list for the seventh year in a row, UCSD also earned a No. 6 overall ranking in the study.

The NCSA Athletic Recruiting Collegiate Power Rankings assess the academic and athletics standards of all NCAA athletic programs across the country. The rankings rate colleges and universities comprehensively based on student-athlete graduation rates, academic strength and athletic prowess of the university.

The study was developed to help prospective student-athletes and their families evaluate the particular strengths of the top colleges and universities at the Division I, II and III levels.

Fewer than 6% of college and universities earned a spot in the NCSA Athletic Recruiting's Top 100 for 2011 and UC San Diego is in that elite class once again.

UCSD first appeared in the rankings in 2005 -- coming in at No. 26 overall -- and has earned a spot in the top 100 every year since. UC San Diego was ranked as high as No. 4 overall in 2007 and has been the top-ranked school in Division II five years running. UCSD moved up 17 spots in the overall rankings this year after coming in at No. 23 in 2010.

"We are very pleased to ranked among the top universities in the country once again this year," UCSD Director of Athletics Earl W. Edwards said. "We pride ourselves on excelling both academically and athletically and its great to be recognized for our accomplishments in both of those areas. Being ranked as the No. 1 institution in Division II is something we're extremely proud of, but I feel our overall ranking is even more significant."

Now in its ninth year, the Collegiate Power Rankings are calculated for each college and university by averaging student-athlete graduation rates, academic rankings provided by U.S. News & World Report and the strength of athletic departments as determined by the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup rankings.

The Power Rankings are just one example of the NCSA's commitment to redefining collegiate recruiting. As the leading athletic recruiting network, NCSA connects more than 35,000 college coaches with student-athletes looking to pursue higher education and the chance to compete athletically at the collegiate level.

For a comprehensive list of the rankings, both overall and by division, visit: www.ncsasports.org/about-ncsa/power-rankings

Information in this release courtesy of Tiffany Menzione, NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network.