Academy ranks among nation’s best Published Aug. 25, 2003 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) -- The U.S. Air Force Academy has one of the nation's top undergraduate engineering programs, according to U.S. News & World Report.The national news magazine released its America’s Best Colleges 2004 edition, which rated universities in a number of general areas. In the overall engineering rankings among undergraduate institutions, the Air Force Academy ranked sixth in the nation.In terms of specific academic programs, the magazine rated several of the Air Force Academy’s engineering programs among the nation’s best.For aerospace engineering, the academy ranked second.In civil engineering, the academy ranked ninth in the nation.For electrical engineering, it ranked sixth.The academy’s mechanical-engineering program is now at eighth, up one spot from the 2003 rankings.The rankings of undergraduate engineering programs are based solely on a peer assessment survey, according to U.S. News & World Report. Surveys were sent in the spring to the deans and senior faculty of colleges with engineering programs accredited by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology. Survey participants nominated up to 10 of the best programs in each engineering specialty area.