UNLV is one of the nation's most diverse campuses for undergraduate students, according to the 2013 U.S. News & World Report best colleges rankings. This is the second consecutive year UNLV has received this designation.

The publication, which annually ranks the nation's top universities in a variety of categories, used student enrollment data from the 2011-2012 school year and factors in the proportion of minority students and the overall mix of the campus' student body.

According to the report, the Campus Ethnic Diversity category identifies colleges where students are most likely to encounter undergraduates from racial or ethnic groups different from their own.

A diversity index from 0.0 to 1.0 is assigned to each university. UNLV's diversity index was 0.70 - a tie for eighth place with four other universities.

"Southern Nevada's growing diverse population is reflected in UNLV's enrollment," said Luis Valera, UNLV interim vice president of diversity initiatives and government relations. "UNLV is dedicated to ensuring campus life programming and academic courses are geared toward cultural awareness, a vital part of our students' college experience."

Categories considered for the diversity index include African-Americans who are non-Hispanic, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian-American Pacific Islander, whites who are non-Hispanic, and multiracial. International students are not included in the calculation since many universities do not report each international student's ethnicity separately.

At UNLV, 51 percent of all undergraduate students reported being part of a racial or ethnic minority. Of that, Hispanic students make up the largest minority undergraduate student group at UNLV at 19 percent.

Visit U.S. News & World Report to view the complete list of rankings.