1 Best Value in the South Region in U.S. News & WorldReport’s annual college rankings. In the 2026 edition of U.S. News and World Report’sBest Colleges, released on Tuesday, U of O ranked first in the “Best Value Schools” category among the nearly 100 regional colleges in the 12-state South. “We are honored to once again be recognized as the top Best Value university in our region,” said U of O President Richard Dunsworth. Ozarks has been ranked among the top 10 in the South Region in each of the past 10 years. 1 in the Best Value category in the 2022, 2024 and 2025 rankings and was ranked No.