Ranked: America’s Best Universities

Visual Capitalist ^ | 11/30/2023 | Pallavi Rao, Niccolo Conte, Sabrina Lam

[SeekAndFind]

The latest ranking of America’s best universities is here, perfectly timed for the approaching admissions season.

“Best” is of course subjective, and U.S. News and World Report has compiled 19 metrics on which they evaluated more than 400 national universities. Some of them include:

• Graduation rates & performance: A four-year rolling average of the proportion of each entering class earning a bachelor’s degree in six years or less. Performance is measured against predictions made by the publishers, and when beaten, the university gains a higher scoring.

• Peer assessment: A two-year weighted average of ratings from top academics—presidents, provosts and deans of admissions—on academic quality of peer institutions with which they are familiar.

• Financial resources: The average per student spend on instruction, research, student services and related educational expenditures in the 2021 fiscal year.

• Debt: A school’s average accumulated federal loan debt among borrowers only.

• Pell graduation rates & performance: the same calculation as stated above, but focused only on Pell Grant students, adjusted to give more credit to schools with larger Pell student proportions.

The website’s methodology section details how they sourced their data, the weights assigned to each metric, and their changes over the years.

And, as Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao and Niccolo Conte detail below, from the hundreds assessed come the nearly 50 best universities that offer a variety of undergraduate majors, post-graduate programs, emphasize research, or award professional practice doctorates.

Which are the Best Universities in America?

At the top of the list, Princeton University is the best university in the country, known for its physics, economics, and international relations departments. Notably, it’s a rare Ivy league university that does not have a law, medical, or business school.

Here’s the full ranking of America’s best universities, along with annual tuition requirements.

Rank	School Name	State	Tuition
1	Princeton University	New Jersey	$59,710
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts	$60,156
3	Harvard University	Massachusetts	$59,076
3	Stanford University	California	$62,484
5	Yale University	Connecticut	$64,700
6	University of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	$66,104
7	California Institute of Technology	California	$63,255
7	Duke University	North Carolina	$66,172
9	Brown University	Rhode Island	$68,230
9	Johns Hopkins University	Maryland	$63,340
9	Northwestern University	Illinois	$65,997
12	Columbia University	New York	$65,524
12	Cornell University	New York	$66,014
12	University of Chicago	Illinois	$65,619
15	University of California, Berkeley	California	$48,465 (out-state) $15,891 (in-state)
15	University of California, LA	California	$46,326 (out-state) $13,752 (in-state)
17	Rice University	Texas	$58,128
18	Dartmouth College	New Hampshire	$65,511
18	Vanderbilt University	Tennessee	$63,946
20	University of Notre Dame	Indiana	$62,693
21	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	Michigan	$57,273 (out-state) $17,786 (in-state)
22	Georgetown University	Washington, DC	$65,082
22	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	North Carolina	$39,338 (out-state) $8,998 (in-state)
24	Carnegie Mellon University	Pennsylvania	$63,829
24	Emory University	Georgia	$60,774
24	University of Virginia	Virginia	$58,950 (out-state) $22,323 (in-state)
24	Washington University, St. Louis	Missouri	$62,982
28	University of California, Davis	California	$46,043 (out-state) $15,266 (in-state)
28	University of California, San Diego	California	$48,630 (out-state) $16,056 (in-state)
28	University of Florida	Florida	$28,658 (out-state) $6,381 (in-state)
28	University of Southern California	California	$68,237
32	University of Texas, Austin	Texas	$41,070 (out-state) $11,698 (in-state)
33	Georgia Institute of Technology	Georgia	$32,876 (out-state) $11,764 (in-state)
33	University of California, Irvine	California	$47,759 (out-state) $15,185 (in-state)
35	New York University	New York	$60,438
35	University of California, Santa Barbara	California	$45,658 (out-state) $14,881 (in-state)
35	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Illinois	$36,068 (out-state) $17,572 (in-state)
35	University of Wisconsin, Madison	Wisconsin	$40,603 (out-state) $11,205 (in-state)
39	Boston College	Massachusetts	$67,680
40	Rutgers University, New Brunswick	New Jersey	$36,001 (out-state) $17,239 (in-state)
40	Tufts University	Massachusetts	$67,844
40	University of Washington	Washington	$41,997 (out-state) $12,643 (in-state)
43	Boston University	Massachusetts	$65,168
43	The Ohio State University	Ohio	$36,722 (out-state) $12,485 (in-state)
43	Purdue University, Main Campus	Indiana	$28,794 (out-state) $9,992 (in-state)
46	University of Maryland, College Park	Maryland	$40,306 (out-state) $11,505 (in-state)
47	Lehigh University	Pennsylvania	$62,180
47	Texas A&M University	Texas	$40,607 (out-state) $12,413 (in-state)
47	University of Georgia	Georgia	$30,220 (out-state) $11,180 (in-state)
47	University of Rochester	New York	$64,384
47	Virginia Tech	Virginia	$36,090 (out-state) $15,478 (in-state)
47	Wake Forest University	North Carolina	$64,758
53	Case Western Reserve University	Ohio	$62,234
53	Florida State University	Florida	$21,683 (out-state) $6,517 (in-state)
53	Northeastern University	Massachusetts	$63,141
53	University of Minnesota, Twin Cities	Minnesota	$36,402 (out-state) $16,488 (in-state)
53	William & Mary	Virginia	$48,841 (out-state) $25,041 (in-state)

MIT places second, and Harvard and Stanford tie for third. Yale rounds out the top five.

Private universities, including seven Ivy League colleges, dominate the top of the rankings. Meanwhile, the highest-ranked public schools are tied at 15th, both state schools in California.

For affordability, since the higher ranks are populated by private universities, there tends to be a broad correlation of better universities being more expensive. That said, the most expensive school in the top 50 ranks is actually the University of Southern California, tied at 28th, for $68,237/year.

As it happens, also tied at 28th, the University of Florida is the most affordable public school for in-state students ($6,381/year) and Florida State University tied at 53rd, is the most affordable for out-of-staters at $21,683/year.

However these costs are tuition-only, and don’t account for other necessary expenses: accommodation, food, and textbooks.

Best University versus Best “Fit”

Finding the best university for prospective students is more than just perusing a long ranking list.

Aside from the numerous schools present within each university—which can often be the best for specific majors—factors like location, proximity to family, campus culture, the non-academic pursuits (sports, extracurriculars, internships) are also taken into consideration.

In fact, research has found that just attaining a university degree improves future earnings potential and employability.

Furthermore, individual engagement at college (irrespective of the rank of the school in question) plays a far bigger role in learning and general well-being than simply attending a highly-ranked school.

However, for low income and minority students, attending a top-ranked school does improve future earnings considerably. For women, it also often results in delaying marriage and kids, which results in more work-hours and as a result, more pay.

[dfwgator]

As it happens, also tied at 28th, the University of Florida is the most affordable public school for in-state students ($6,381/year) and Florida State University tied at 53rd, is the most affordable for out-of-staters at $21,683/year.

At least UF has bragging rights over FSU where it really matters.

[DesertRhino]

Quite a laughable list. only a couple of serious ones on that list. And high comedy that 95% of that list is clearly inferior to Texas Tech, Colorado School of Mines, and many other schools... as judged by kind of the graduates they turn out. Hell, even William and Mary are judged as better?

Same old self congratulation society survey. lol

[SuperLuminal]

🙂🙂🙄🙄😀😀😁😁😂😂🤣🤣😎

Always nice to end the day with a joke...

[reasonisfaith]

The best universitites are the ones that can say “they” instead of “he” or “she,” and still think they’re making sense.

[DesertRhino]

Put the average Brown, or Columbia graduate in ANY discipline up against ANY graduate of Colorado School of Mines. Do it on live TV.... not even close.

[Red6]

None of the evaluative criteria even attempts to rate the school based on the quality of education.

Graduation rates, peer review, debt... WTF is this?

Only graduation rates even concern the student, the rest is just junk. Why don’t they throw in how many electric cars the school uses, or how many minority and female professors teach there (enviro and diversity trash could be added to the formula)...

[Salvavida]

Moron factories, all of them.

[EinNYC]

What a load of garbage. How about they rate the students as to rioting based on false information?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

They should add the number of Pro-Pali demonstrations, anti-Semitic demonstrations, the number of time Palis have taken over classrooms, and how many times the administration stood down while all that was happening.

[Redmen4ever]

First, I agree with the several posts concerning students at schools like Colorado School of Mines.

The sticker price at a private school is just a starting point for negotiation.

Large state schools can deliver their product at low cost in large part because of large class size. If you are a self-disciplined person, they can be a real bargain.

In the old days, colleges weeded out those who weren’t motivated. Nowadays, they tolerate the not-motivated and open themselves up to a disruptive, ideologically-driven element. They also tolerate under-achievers among minorities and such, which only leads to frustration and then criticism of objective standards. These two groups of students simply aren’t worth it and, more so, ruin college for others.

[Gene Eric]

Columbia is an outstanding university cultivating scientists that are in high-demand for the tech commercial sectors. So you might want to reconsider that challenge. Regarding Brown, you may very well be correct :)

[Gene Eric]

Large state schools generally have lower tuition for in-state students.

But the private/Ivys all seem to be around the same cost.

I’m currently covering two college kids. One is attending a private “best”, the other isn’t (not top ranked). The other is ironically costing me more. I can’t wait for this to end... lol

[Flavious_Maximus]

New York University is a school for special education retards. Placing that lunatic asylum on this list is a disgrace to higher learning. /spit

[EQAndyBuzz]

For best Universities, I would cut out the first 16 and start with Rice.

[Redmen4ever]

good show old boy ... put three through myself

[who knows what evil?]

LOL...they all suck.

[redfreedom]

Being compiled by the leftist media and seeing Berkley and Harvard up there is confirming the list is pure unadulterated bullshit. Both of those outfits do nothing but crank out America hating leftists.

[Gay State Conservative]

This list is worthless...it doesn’t even list Whatsamatta U.

[Fresh Wind]

How many of those fine institutions have implemented “Bias Response Teams” whereby students can blow the whistle on other students or faculty that have exhibited real or imagined bias against protected groups?

The list is here (scroll down to the end):

https://speechfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SF-2022_Bias-Response-team-and-Reporting-System-Report_Final.pdf