SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University’s Bachelor of Arts degree in dance has been ranked fifth in the nation by an independent website that tracks and evaluates dance programs across the country.

The university announced the ranking, from the website dance-colleges.com, on Wednesday.

“The dance department always strives to be the best it can be,” said Eva Tsuqulashi-Daddesio, dean of SRU’s College of Liberal Arts, said in a press release.

“It’s great to see continued praise for the work that our dedicated and highly-qualified faculty and staff perform on a daily basis.”

The website says it uses 56 different criteria to evaluate and rank programs in 48 states. SRU is one of 322 schools that offer dance programs, and one of 260 that offer a bachelor’s degree in dance, according to the website — which ranked SRU’s dance program as the second-best in Pennsylvania and 16th in the nation.

“There are 17 schools offering dance programs in Pennsylvania, and the best option is offered by Slippery Rock University,” the site’s evaluators wrote. “This college has a great bachelor’s degree program evaluated with five stars for curriculum and three stars for teaching.”