Stay up to date with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more

Stay up to date with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more

Stay up to date with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more

Students and alumni flocked to the US News and World ReportCheck out the annual college rankings on Tuesday (September 24) to see where your schools rank.

Each year, the publication produces a ranking of the best colleges in the country based on the resources available to students and faculty, as well as the bachelor's degrees students receive. The rankings are also calculated based on the number of graduates from each school who entered the workforce with a good starting salary and manageable debt.

There was little change at the top of the 2025 list, with Princeton University defending its title at number 1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the second-best university in the country for 2025, followed by Harvard University, Stanford University, and Yale University.

Other universities have dropped in the rankings, with Stanford University dropping to fourth place after being tied with Harvard University as the third-best university in the country last year. The University of Pennsylvania ranked 10th on the latest list, dropping four spots from last year. Meanwhile, the prestigious Brown University dropped from 9th on the 2024 list to 13th on the 2025 list.

Both the University of Connecticut and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute fell in the rankings, ranking 70th in the 2025 list. In the 2024 best schools rankings, Rensselaer was originally ranked 60th, while UConn was ranked 58th.

However, there were some schools that made an impressive leap forward. For example, Howard University is now in the top 100 schools, rising from 115th in the 2024 list to 86th in 2025 – tied with five other schools. Florida International University is in the top 100 and tied with six other schools at 98th, up from 124th in the 2024 rankings.

Open image in gallery

Tulane University also moved up 10 places this year, having ranked 73rd in the 2024 rankings. Duke University and Johns Hopkins University, which were among the top 10 best colleges last year, moved up the 2025 list and now share sixth place.

The U.S. News and World Report's methodology was revised this year after coming under criticism in recent years for discouraging programs that “support careers in the public interest, advocate for need-based aid, and welcome working-class students into the profession.”

This year, for the first time, “Pell Grant recipients’ graduation performance and national university graduation rates” were taken into account.

More than 50 percent of each school's ranking is based on “outcome measures that relate to how successful an institution is at enrolling and graduating students from diverse backgrounds with manageable debt and success after graduation,” according to the publication.