The 2025 U.S. News & World Report college rankings were released today, September 24th.
This year’s U.S. News Best Colleges report features more than 25 articles explaining the methodology the organization uses to compile its annual rankings. According to the website, the new edition of the rankings “features only minor methodological changes this year,” with many of the top-ranked colleges remaining similar or the same.
Find out which North Carolina schools are included in the latest U.S. News rankings, as well as schools in Western North Carolina and more.
MORE: Which Western North Carolina colleges have the highest acceptance rates? See the rankings here
Best Colleges in North Carolina
According to the 2025 U.S. News report, the top 10 North Carolina universities that made this year’s list of national universities (including one in the top 10 overall) are:
#6 – Duke University #27 – UNC Chapel Hill #46 – Wake Forest University #58 – North Carolina State University #121 – Elon University #152 – UNC Charlotte #189 – East Carolina University #196 – UNC Greensboro #196 – UNC Wilmington #220 – Winston-Salem State University
Read more: University of North Carolina at Asheville enrollment grows amid deficits, layoffs, department cuts
North Carolina Western University Rankings
When it comes to WNC schools, U.S. News found the following:
UNC Asheville
UNCA has ranked highly on several lists this year — in fact, the school is ranked No. 9 among the top 10 public universities in the country, according to U.S. News — and No. 132 on this year’s list of the nation’s best liberal arts colleges.
Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University also received high recognition from U.S. News this year: Like UNCA, the school was ranked among the top 10 public universities in the nation, No. 2 among regional universities in the South, and No. 34 among best value schools.
Western Carolina University
WCU is ranked on several lists, including #231 in the National University Rankings and #126 in the Top Public Universities Rankings.
Warren Wilson College
WWC ranked 187th-204th among the nation’s liberal arts colleges, lower than any WNC public university previously listed, although the school was ranked 151st on U.S. News’ list of top performers for social mobility.
Montreat College
Montreat College received high recognition on two lists: The college ranked 62nd on the list of regional colleges in the South and 70th on the list of top performers for social mobility.
Brevard College
Brevard College’s U.S. News page lists the school on three lists: the school is ranked 34th among regional universities in the South and 25th among best value schools, and it is also ranked in the top 10 for best undergraduate teaching, coming in at number four.
Mars Hill University
Last but not least, Mars Hill University was ranked on three lists including #28 on the Regional Universities in the South rankings and #22 on the Best Value Schools rankings. It also made the top 10 on the Best Colleges for Veterans rankings at #8.
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Top 20 National Universities
Here are the best colleges for 2025 according to U.S. News & World Report:
1. Princeton University 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3. Harvard University 4. Stanford University 5. Yale University 6 (tie). California Institute of Technology 6 (tie). Duke University 6 (tie). Johns Hopkins University 6 (tie). Northwestern University 10. University of Pennsylvania 11 (tie). Cornell University 11 (tie). University of Chicago 13 (tie). Brown University 13 (tie). Columbia University 15 (tie). Dartmouth College 15 (tie). University of California, Los Angeles 17. University of California, Berkeley 18 (tie). Rice University 18 (tie). University of Notre Dame 18 (tie). Vanderbilt University
Iris Seaton is a featured news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. She can be reached at iseaton@citizentimes.com.
