Johns Hopkins University rose to sixth place among national universities, its highest ranking ever in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of the best undergraduate schools in the nation.
The university tied for sixth place with California Institute of Technology, Duke University and Northwestern University in the annual list released today.
U.S. News has counted Johns Hopkins among the top 10 universities in the nation since 2019 and in the top 20 in all but one year since it began ranking in the 1980s. The rankings highlight universities that excel in areas such as value, social mobility and education, as well as in the academic disciplines of business, computer science, engineering, nursing, economics and psychology.
This year, Hopkins’ median student loan debt is the lowest of any university in the nation, a continuing reflection of the landmark $1.8 billion gift to undergraduate financial aid from philanthropist, business leader and Johns Hopkins alumnus Michael R. Bloomberg. The gift has helped cut the average federal loan debt of Hopkins graduates in half since Bloomberg’s donation in 2018. U.S. News also ranked Hopkins 10th for value, based on a combination of academic quality and net tuition.
Hopkins ranked 10th for innovation and 12th for undergraduate research/creative projects, reflecting the university’s success in providing ample opportunities for students to participate in projects outside of class. More than 80% of Hopkins undergraduates participate in research activities at least once during their time at Hopkins, and on average, students spend 8-10 hours per week participating in research activities, according to the Hopkins Office of Undergraduate Research.
U.S. News ranked Hopkins as the top university in the nation in several undergraduate-level academic fields: the university ranked first in biomedical engineering, fifth in biocomputing/bioinformatics/biotechnology, and rose three spots to No. 18 in artificial intelligence. U.S. News ranks graduate fields separately each spring.
Below is a complete list of the top 20 rankings for undergraduate programs and specializations.
1st in Biomedical Engineering, 5th in Biocomputer/Bioinformatics/Biotechnology, 13th (tie) in Engineering, 14th (tie) in Psychology, 16th in Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering, 18th in Artificial Intelligence, 19th in Computer Science, 20th in Mechanical Engineering, and 20th in Chemical Engineering
This year’s rankings were calculated using 17 measures of academic quality for nearly 1,500 four-year, bachelor’s degree-granting colleges and universities in the U.S. These statistics reflect not only educational excellence and graduate outcomes, but also individual considerations such as campus culture, strength of specific majors and financial aid offered.
