Five Georgia schools cracked the latest national rankings in U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges list.

» RELATED: What's the best college in Georgia? Depends on who you ask

The company's 2018 National Universities ranking highlights 311 American schools offering a full range of undergraduate majors, master's and doctoral programs and a commitment to faculty research.

Researchers compared the institutions based on 15 “widely accepted indicators of excellence,” such as first-year student retention rates, graduation rates and strength of faculty.

» RELATED: 5 things to know about U.S. News & World Report college rankings

Of the 53 Georgia colleges in their database, five ranked nationally with Atlanta’s Emory University earning top honors.

The private university also ranked No. 21 in the country.

Unlike last year, Georgia State University was recognized in the 2018 U.S. News National Universities ranking, and came in 223rd nationally.

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Georgia’s five nationally-ranked colleges, according to U.S. News’ 2018 list:

1. Emory University

2017 ranking: 20

National rank: 21

Tuition: $49,392

» RELATED: Two Atlanta colleges among the best in the world in new global ranking

2. Georgia Institute of Technology

2017 ranking: 34

National rank: 34

Out-of-state tuition: $33,014

In-state tuition: $12,418

3. University of Georgia

2017 ranking: 56

National rank: 54

Out-of-state tuition: $30,392

In-state tuition: $11,818

» RELATED: The 10 highest-ranked affordable colleges in America

4. Mercer University

2017 ranking: 135

National rank: 133

Tuition: $36,000

5. Georgia State University

2017 ranking: Unranked

National rank: 223

Out-of-state tuition: $29,432

In-state tuition: $10,858

Both Emory and Mercer universities were considered among the best value for national universities by U.S. News this year.

Additionally, both UGA and Georgia Tech ranked among the top 20 public universities in the nation.

More about the U.S. News Best Colleges ranking and its methodology.

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