University of Washington ranked as No. 6 university worldwide

• Reality check: That's one spot higher than last year — and ahead of Yale, Columbia, Cambridge, the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton.

What they're saying: The UW earned high marks partly because of its reputation as a top research university, and how often its researchers are cited by other academics.

• The Seattle-based school also is home to some of the world's best programs in immunology, clinical medicine, infectious diseases and geosciences, among other topics, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Yes, and: Did we mention it's also pretty?

The bottom line: The report said our state university is better than a lot of your fancy Ivy League schools — so take that, East Coasters.