BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University is experiencing strong growth in the key priority areas of student success and opportunity, and transformative research and creativity, according to the 2025 Best Colleges rankings released today by U.S. News & World Report. This growth represents significant progress toward the goals of the IU 2030 Strategic Plan.
Students attend a job fair at Indiana University South Bend, ranked 44th in social mobility. Photo by Alex Kumar, Indiana University
Additionally, the university’s Kelley School of Business undergraduate business program was ranked 9th in the nation and 1st in Indiana, with seven specialized programs ranking in the top 10.
Overall, IU received No. 34 among public universities in the Best Colleges rankings.
“The data underlying these rankings speaks to Indiana University’s commitment to student success, research impact and service to our state,” said Indiana University President Pamela Whitten. “We are committed to the quality of our student support services, research enterprises and academic programs, including IU’s top-ranked undergraduate business program, which is recognized as one of the best in the nation and produces leaders for private companies in Indiana and beyond.”
In the category of “social mobility rankings,” IU improved 59 points overall from its 2024 ranking among nationally ranked universities. The social mobility rankings are based on two different ranking factors that evaluate the graduation rates and graduation outcomes of students who receive Pell Grants. The Pell Grant is a federal grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Education for undergraduate students with special financial needs.
Among regional campuses, IU South Bend and IU East ranked in the top 50, coming in at 44th for social mobility.
“The progress we are seeing is a direct result of IU’s focus on student success and the concerted efforts of our entire community to create an environment where students can reach their full potential,” said Julie Payne Kirchmeyer, IU vice president for Student Success. “We are proud of the progress our students have made because it is a strong sign that IU’s ongoing efforts to increase support and opportunities for all students are working.”
Key student priorities targeted by the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs for 2024-25 include improving undergraduate academic instruction, increasing retention of priority student populations, eliminating barriers to student well-being, enhancing the undergraduate academic experience, and improving the student experience in career development.
Already ranked among the top 50 in the nation, IU is also expected to see a notable increase in its publication rankings, from 48th in 2024 to 40th in 2025. The score, which measures faculty research impact, is based on four “ranking factors” related to citation rates and scholarly impact, including overall citation rate and citation rate in world-class journals.
“This ranking is a strong signal that researchers across the country and abroad are turning to the insights of IU faculty in their own quest for new knowledge,” said IU Vice Provost for Research Russell J. Mumper. “It is an important sign of the impact of IU’s research and the influence our faculty have on their colleagues.”
IU’s top priorities within research include leading Indiana’s research and development ecosystem, improving the lives of Indianaans through high-impact research and creativity, prioritizing entrepreneurship and commercialization through research disclosure and licensing, and expanding community-engaged research and scholarship.
Researchers working in the breast cancer lab at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Photo by Liz Kaye, Indiana University.
The Kelley College of Business earned 9th place nationally among public and private universities for its undergraduate business programs, the highest ranking in the state.
Additionally, seven of the Kelley School’s programs ranked in the top 10 nationally in U.S. News’ rankings of professional business programs: accounting ranked fourth, entrepreneurship ranked fifth, finance ranked 10th, management ranked seventh, management information systems ranked eighth, marketing ranked third, and production/operations management ranked 10th.
“The success of our undergraduate programs’ rankings is reflected in the success of our students and graduates and is the result of our long history of consistently providing a high-quality business education,” said Ash Soni, dean of the Kelley School and Sungkyunkwan professor. “With more than 100 years of innovative business programs, Kelley students are connected to one of the largest business school alumni networks in the world, with more than 130,000 graduates working in leading companies around the world. Our undergraduate programs, like many of our disciplines, are consistently ranked among the best.”
In addition to its highly rated undergraduate business programs, the Kelley School was recognized earlier this year by U.S. News as the No. 1 online MBA program in the nation. U.S. News has recognized IU Kelley School of Business’ online MBA program as the best in the country a total of eight times since 2013, when it began ranking online programs.
Rankings for undergraduate business programs and undergraduate specialized business programs are based on input from institutional leaders participating in U.S. News peer evaluation surveys.