The honor marks the second straight year the university's engineering college has earned its place among the nation's 50 best undergraduate programs in engineering.

Northridge is one of only six California State University programs in the top ranked tier of engineering programs accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.

"It is exciting that our college has once again made the list of the best undergraduate engineering schools," said S.T. Mau, dean of Northridge's College of Engineering and Computer Science.

The college, ranked 39th, tied with seven out-of-state institutions in the magazine's survey of public and private engineering schools whose terminal degree is the bachelor's or master's. Last year's survey ranked the college in 40th place.

Northridge also was rated among the nation's top five master's level colleges and universities whose undergraduates go on to obtain doctoral degrees in science and engineering, according to a 2003 National Science Foundation survey.

At nearly 2,300 students and about 120 full and part-time faculty, CSUN's College of Engineering and Computer Science is home to several nationally recognized programs where students gain valuable hands-on experience working on cutting-edge research alongside faculty members and industry professionals.

The college offers the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area's only program training future manufacturing systems engineers to play key roles in the creation of products ranging from toys to space shuttles.

This year, the college finished first overall in the recent steel bridge competition at the Pacific Southwest Regional Student conference, first in the 2005 Student (Pacific Southwest) Steel Bridge competition, and 14th in the global Society of Automotive Engineers Formula race car competition, in which teams designed and manufactured the vehicles.

Mau noted that CSUN's engineering building, opened in 1965, is undergoing an $18 million renovation. "We are proud to be able to offer state of the art facilities and equipment for our students," he said. "After the renovation, we will have a state of the art building as well." The renovation, funded in part by Proposition 55 education bond funds and from corporate and individual contributions, is scheduled for completion in 2005.

In compiling its "Best Colleges" list, U.S. News and World Report considers a number of indicators used to measure academic quality. Among them are peer assessment by deans and senior faculty from across the country; retention rates; faculty resources including class size, classroom ratios of faculty to students and faculty salary and benefits; student selectivity and financial resources.

U.S. News also culls data from the American Association of University Professors, the Council for Aid to Education, the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics and other sources.