U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 “Best Colleges” ranking Ithaca College among the best schools of its kind, receiving particularly high marks for teaching, value and innovation.
As a guide for students and families considering higher education choices, U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings evaluate colleges using statistical measures believed to reflect academic quality and graduate outcomes. Metrics include factors such as first-year retention rates, graduation rates, student-to-faculty ratios, graduate debt, graduate earnings, and peer ratings that show how top administrators at other institutions rate schools.
IC was ranked 15th in overall quality out of 171 schools considered in the Northern Regional Universities category.
Regional universities are those that offer a wide range of undergraduate programs and some master’s programs, but few doctoral programs. Ithaca College offers doctoral programs in physical therapy and occupational therapy. In this category, the rankings are divided into four regions: North, South, Midwest, and West.
In other rankings, Ithaca College was recognized as:
It placed ninth in the Best Undergraduate Teaching Awards, which recognize schools whose faculty and administrators are committed to providing a quality education to undergraduate students.
Ranked #13 in the most innovative schools rankings. This institution is at the forefront of developments in curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology and facilities.
It is ranked #16 in the Best Value rankings, which is a ranking for schools that have above-average academic performance and cost significantly less than many other schools when you take into account financial aid provided in the form of need-based grants and scholarships.
U.S. New & World Report joins other publications that have recently given Ithaca College high praise, with IC earning the top spot on BestColleges’ LGBTBQ+ Friendly Colleges list and being named one of Princeton Review’s Best 390 Colleges.
For more information on U.S. News & World Report’s rankings, visit usnews.com/best-colleges .
