U.S. News and World Report has ranked two Fayette County high schools as being among the best in the nation for preparing students for college and careers.

McIntosh High and Whitewater High are among the nation’s top performing public high schools included on the 2017 “Best High Schools” list that is published annually by the digital news and information company.

Both schools received a silver medal. Medals of gold, silver and bronze are awarded to schools based on their academic performance on state assessments, graduation rates, and how well they prepare students for college. Only 6,041 high schools out of more than 22,000 nationwide received a medal. Just 10.3 percent of the schools earned silver medals.

On the national list, McIntosh High is ranked 867, and Whitewater High is ranked 1291.

For Georgia, McIntosh High is ranked 25, and Whitewater High is ranked 35.

A four-step process determined the rankings on the “Best High Schools” list. The first three steps ensured that the schools serve all students well, using their performance on the math and reading parts of their state proficiency tests, and graduation rates as the benchmarks. For those schools that made it past the first three steps, a fourth step assessed the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work.