This fall, Northwestern moved from No. 9 to No. 6 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 National University Rankings. But what goes into scoring? This report quantifies universities by a variety of metrics, including results, expert opinion, faculty resources, student excellence, and faculty research.
There is a slight discrepancy in the ranking metrics for schools reporting less than 50% of both SAT or ACT score admissions for both Fall 2022 and 2023. For schools without standardized test scores, an additional 5% from the standardized test category is added to the graduation rate weighting, increasing the category from 16% to 21%. Of the 10 highest ranked schools, only Caltech was scored using this methodology.
Peer assessment is the heaviest overall category and reflects feedback from scholars at other institutions. Other categories, such as faculty resources and social mobility, are percentages of total metrics, such as student-to-finance ratios and Pell Grant graduation rates.
Graduation rate is the single largest factor in the ranking criteria, reflecting the percentage of students who complete a bachelor’s degree within six years. Ranked No. 1 for the 14th year in a row, Princeton tied with Harvard University for the highest score of 98%. Nu is no. 2Massachusetts Institute of Technology, No. 6Duke, and tied with No. 10 University of Pennsylvania for a 96% graduation rate.
Graduation rates for Pell Grant recipients weigh in at 5.5%, accounting for half of the social mobility category. Nu holds the second-highest Pell graduation rate at 96%, along with Duke and Harvard. Again, Princeton leads with the highest percentage at 97%.
Faculty resources account for 11% of the ranking weight and are made up of three factors. These are faculty salary (6%), full-time faculty (2%), and student-to-financial ratio (3%).
Within the Faculty Resource Group, the heaviest category is Average Faculty Salary, which is adjusted to address the cost of living by region. For this graphic, the Daily pulled salary data from the National Center for Education Statistics, which does not adjust for cost of living.
As shown in the bar graph, the top four universities have the highest average salaries, all over $210,000. NU ranks as having the lowest faculty salaries compared to other top institutions, with only Duke and Johns Hopkins reporting lower numbers.
Another factor under faculty resources is the percentage of full-time faculty. Schools receive credit in the ranking for a higher percentage of full-time instructors. In this category, NU is tied with Princeton for first place with a full-time faculty percentage of 83%. Both universities have one of the four lowest percentages.
MIT and Caltech are tied for the lowest student-to-wealth ratio in the country at 3:1. Nu falls in the median with a 6:1 ratio, tied with Stanford, Yale, and Johns Hopkins.
Rankings are released every September.
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