For the last two decades, U.S. News & World Report magazine has ranked Cal Poly as the best public master’s degree university in the West, according to a news release from the university.

The 2013 ranking secures the local university's top spot on the list for the 20th straight year.

The magazine's latest annual college edition, available online now and in print Sept. 18, listed Cal Poly as sixth on the overall list of the West’s best universities for public and private institutions that offer undergraduate and master’s degrees.

“Being named Best in the West for 20 straight years is a terrific acknowledgment of Cal Poly’s sustained excellence over a long period of time,” Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong said in the statement.

The report also gave special attention to Cal Poly’s College of Engineering program, which was named the third best public master’s engineering program in the country.

The university’s computer, electrical and mechanical engineering programs were each ranked as the top program at a public university in their respective categories.

Cal Poly’s civil and environmental engineering programs, as well as the university’s aerospace engineering program, were ranked the second best programs at a public university.