Every year, members of the higher education community (prospective students, parents, educators, administrators, etc.) await the release of U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges rankings with varying levels of excitement and anxiety. The rankings have long shaped perceptions of the top schools in the United States and provide insight into the value of college as an academic and financial investment. The 2024 rankings saw significant changes in methodology that impacted the rankings system, but this year, aside from a few minor revisions, the methodology remained largely the same.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2025 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
1. Ranking systems have lost some of their influence, but they still have power.
After years of controversy, the publication’s rankings have lost much of their former luster. And U.S. News is not the only rankings system to have fallen from public esteem. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal caused a furor when it released its 2025 rankings, with the Duke Chronicle slamming the system as a “bewildering mess” following dramatic changes in college rankings. Despite recent criticism of the rankings system, universities continue to pour millions of dollars into participating in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings and have vigorously protested the decline in their results. Prospective students and their families continue to consult the rankings when building their college lists.
2. Princeton University ranks first for the 14th consecutive year
Princeton University takes the top spot in the 2025 rankings, maintaining its record as the nation’s highest-ranked university for the 14th consecutive year. It is followed by MIT in second place and Harvard University in third place, the same positions as in the 2024 rankings. Known for its world-class faculty, rigorous academic programs and generous financial aid offerings, Princeton’s consistent presence at the top of the list reflects not only its outstanding reputation, but also its world-renowned research achievements and opportunities for students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds.
3. Socio-economic factors still matter to rankings
Following criticism and subsequent removal from the rankings of law and business schools, U.S. News & World Report changed its 2024 ranking methodology to better reflect socio-economic concerns that are core to the value of higher education institutions. These changes introduced metrics related to, among other things, the percentage of first-generation students graduating from a school, the graduation rate of Pell Grant recipients, and graduate earnings compared to peers without a college degree. This year’s rankings did not take into account six-year graduation rates of first-generation students due to data collection issues. Despite this minor change, according to a U.S. News & World Report press release, “more than 50% of the institutions’ rankings include a range of outcome measures related to their success in enrolling and graduating students from all backgrounds with manageable debt, as well as graduate graduate earnings.” Top performers in the social mobility category include Florida International University, University of California, Riverside, and California State University, Long Beach.
4. Brown falls out of the top 10
While the top tier of this year’s rankings remained largely unchanged, Brown University’s ranking dropped from 9th to 13th. The university was in the top 10 in last year’s rankings, but has returned to the same position at 13th in the 2023 rankings. A variety of factors could have influenced this change, including slight changes in the importance of socio-economic factors and changes in the evaluation of standardized scores. Whatever the cause, US News and World Report emphasizes that a one-year drop does not indicate a trend, and that a university’s ranking should be evaluated taking into account its position in the overall rankings, the average year-over-year change of all schools on the list, and its ranking over the past few cycles.
5. Schools in the middle of the rankings are the most mobile
While Brown’s drop caused significant changes in the top 10 rankings, the majority of the changes occurred in the middle of the rankings, with some universities seeing changes of 30 or more places. The median change in the overall rankings was +/-7, meaning that only 1.6% of the total number of universities in the rankings system moved up or down. The universities that saw the most dramatic increases in rankings were:
Deville University (New York) +61
University of Texas at San Antonio +49
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University +49
Andrews University (Michigan) +47
Eastern Kentucky University +41
Dominican University of New York +40
Union University (Tennessee) +40
University of North Texas +40
Winston-Salem State University (North Carolina) +40
Despite their shortcomings, ranking systems can provide valuable insight into the world of higher education and simplify the complex and demanding landscape of college admissions. At the same time, families and students should consider the bigger picture when creating their college lists and making their final college choices, taking into account factors such as campus culture, academic offerings, and financial aid opportunities.