U.S. News Education Rankings
Colleges
U.S. News provides more than 100 different types of numerical rankings and lists to help students narrow their college search. From National Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges to A-Plus Schools for B Students, find the right one for you.
Contents
National Universities
Schools in the National Universities category, such as the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Vermont, offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master's and doctoral programs. These colleges also are committed to producing groundbreaking research.
Best National Universities
Schools on this list offer a range of areas of study for bachelor's degrees, as well as master's and doctoral programs.
See Full Rankings ListNational Liberal Arts Colleges
Schools in the National Liberal Arts Colleges category, such as Spelman College and Haverford College, emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts fields of study.
Best National Liberal Arts Colleges
Schools in this category focus on undergraduate education in the liberal arts fields of study.
See Full Rankings ListRegional Universities
Regional Universities offer a full range of undergraduate programs and some master's programs but few doctoral programs. Regional Universities include Monmouth University, Stetson University, University of Dubuque and Sonoma State University. These rankings are split into four regions: North, South, Midwest and West.
Regional Colleges
These colleges focus on undergraduate education but grant fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts disciplines. Regional Colleges include St. Francis College, Newberry College, Dickinson State University and Warner Pacific University. These rankings are split into four regions: North, South, Midwest and West.
Undergraduate Business Programs
The undergraduate business program rankings were based solely on peer assessment surveys. To appear on these surveys, undergraduate business programs must be accredited by AACSB International.
Best Undergraduate Business Programs
These schools are all accredited by AACSB International.
- #1University of Pennsylvania
- #2Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tie)
- #2University of California, Berkeley (tie)
Undergraduate Computer Science Programs
Top academics and officials at computer science programs rated the overall quality of undergraduate programs with which they were familiar on a 1-5 scale. A school’s undergraduate computer science rank is solely determined by its average of scores received from these surveys. To be included in this standalone peer assessment survey and ranked, a program must either have been accredited by ABET or have recently awarded 20 or more bachelor's degrees in computer science. Read the methodology »
Best Undergraduate Computer Science Programs
See how computer science programs across the country are ranked overall and in specialty areas.
- #1Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- #2Carnegie Mellon University (tie)
- #2Stanford University (tie)
Undergraduate Engineering Programs
The undergraduate engineering program rankings were based solely on peer assessment surveys. To appear on an undergraduate engineering survey, a school must have an undergraduate engineering program accredited by ABET. These programs are split into two groups: schools whose highest engineering degree offered is a doctorate and schools whose highest engineering degree offered is a bachelor's or master's.
Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs
The highest degree these schools offer is a doctorate.
See Full Rankings ListOther Undergraduate Engineering Program (Doctorate) Rankings
Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs
The highest degree these schools offer is a bachelor's or master's.
- #1Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
- #2Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (tie)
- #2Harvey Mudd College (tie)
Other Undergraduate Engineering Program (No Doctorate) Rankings
Undergraduate Nursing Programs
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs rankings are determined by the average of scores received from surveys of top academics and officials at nursing schools or departments. These officials rated the overall quality of undergraduate BSN programs they were familiar with on a 1-5 scale. Schools are included and ranked in this standalone peer assessment survey if they have bachelor’s-level accreditation by either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. In addition, these regionally accredited institutions must have recently awarded at least 40 BSN degrees. Read the methodology »
Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs
Schools on this list must be accredited at the bachelor's level by one of two national accreditation agencies for programs in nursing.
See Full Rankings ListHistorically Black Colleges and Universities
These historically Black colleges and universities were compared only with one another for these rankings. To be on the list, a school must be currently designated by the U.S. Department of Education as an HBCU. To qualify for the U.S. News rankings, an HBCU also must be an undergraduate baccalaureate-granting institution that enrolls primarily first-year, first-time students and must be a school that is part of the 2024 Best Colleges rankings.
Best HBCUs
These historically Black colleges and universities were compared only with one another for these rankings.
See Full Rankings ListMore College Rankings & Lists
Academic Programs to Look For
This is a ranking of schools with outstanding examples of academic programs that are believed to lead to student success. With the help of education experts, including staff members of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, U.S. News identified eight such types of programs. We invited college presidents, chief academic officers, deans of students and deans of admissions from more than 1,500 schools to nominate up to 15 institutions with stellar examples of each program type. Colleges and universities that received 10 or more nominations are included in these lists in numerical rank order based on the number of ratings they received in that program.
Other College Lists
- A-Plus Schools for B Students
- Campus Ethnic Diversity
- Economic Diversity
- Economic Diversity Among the Top 25 Ranked Schools
- Freshman Retention Rate
- Highest 4-Year Graduation Rates
- Least Debt
- Most Campus Commuters
- Most Debt
- Most International Students
- Most Students in Fraternities
- Most Students in Sororities
- Most Students Living in University Housing
- Most Students Over Age 25
- Most Students Receiving Merit Aid
- Most Students Studying Abroad
- Most Transfer Students
- Top 100 – Highest Acceptance Rates
- Top 100 – Lowest Acceptance Rates
- Average Amount of Need-Based Aid Awarded
- Highest 6-Year Graduation Rates
- Highest Proportion of Classes With Fewer Than 20 Students
- Lowest Acceptance Rates
Specialty Schools
These colleges offer most or all degrees in a single field or set of related fields. They were not ranked and are listed alphabetically.
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