Love them or hate them, college rankings have been a mainstay of higher education for decades.
While many universities tout their rankings on the annual list, some critics say the lists unfairly favor certain schools, but students and parents often rely on them to help them decide which colleges are right for them.
It seems like there are ranking systems for everything, from ranking schools by region and major to campus safety and partying.
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U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday released its 2025 rankings of more than 1,500 four-year colleges and universities across the nation, which also marks the magazine’s 40th annual rankings.
The for-profit magazine’s annual rankings have come under fire in recent years, with critics saying the rankings, which began in 1983 and were long considered the gold standard, are biased toward selective private schools, are easily manipulated by universities and fail to capture the breadth of educational offerings.
Several universities have publicly withdrawn from the U.S. News & World Report rankings. Columbia University, one of the few undergraduate schools to do so, said last June that concerns about the rankings having “undue influence” on the undergraduate admissions process were a major factor in its decision.
“Rankings do not accurately reflect the student experience or the university’s priorities,” university officials said in a statement, adding that “much is lost in this approach.”
U.S. News & World Report last year adjusted its methodology for ranking schools, focusing more on the success of graduating students from diverse backgrounds and eliminating factors such as alumni giving, class size and high school performance.
This year, U.S. News & World Reports made several other changes. One major methodology change was the removal of six-year bachelor’s graduation rates for first-generation students as a ranking factor in its national college rankings. It replaced the metric with weightings for two indicators of Pell Grant student graduation rates “consistent with the weightings of other ranking categories.”
Graduation rate data for first-generation students was also removed from the 2025 rankings of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the Social Mobility rankings of National Universities.
“We do not expect this effort to be successful in the short term,” U.S. News & World Report wrote about the methodology changes. “Today marks the 40th edition of Best Colleges, and we will continue to seek more data for the next 40 years.”
The new algorithm has brought about some small changes, but some things have remained the same: Princeton University once again took the number one spot in the US university rankings, followed by MIT in second and Harvard in third.
How did Ohio schools rank according to U.S. News and World Report?
Many universities in the Greater Columbus area and around Ohio have been ranked in U.S. News and World Report’s lists of “America’s Best Colleges,” “America’s Best Liberal Arts Colleges,” “Best Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” and “Best Regional Colleges in the Midwest.”
Among Ohio’s national universities, Ohio State University was once again ranked among the top 50 national universities this year.
Ohio State tied for 41st place with Boston College and Rutgers University.
Ohio’s regional universities also performed well on their respective lists, with Ohio Northern University ranked No. 2 in the Midwest regional universities rankings and John Carroll University ranked No. 3 in the Midwest regional universities rankings.
Here are Ohio’s other colleges ranked this year:
Ashland University: #37 (tie) among Midwest regional universitiesAntioch University: #165 (tie) among national liberal arts universitiesBaldwin Wallace University: #10 (tie) among Midwest regional universitiesBowling Green State University: #273 (tie) among national universitiesCapital University: #48 (tie) among Midwest regional universitiesCentral State University: #62 (tie) among HBCUsCleveland State University: #342 (tie) among national universitiesCase Western Reserve University: #51 (tie) among national universitiesDenison University: #36 (tie) among national liberal arts universitiesHiram College: #9 (tie) among Midwest regional universitiesJohn Carroll University: #3 (tie) among Midwest regional universitiesKent State University: #231 (tie) among national universities (Tie)Kenyon College: #45 among liberal arts colleges (Tie)Marietta College: #17 among regional universities in the Midwest (Tie)Miami University: #136 among regional universities (Tie)Mount Saint Joseph College: #342 among regional universities (Tie)Muskingum College: #43 among regional universities in the Midwest (Tie)Oberlin College: #55 among liberal arts colleges (Tie)Otterbein College: #13 among regional universities in the MidwestOhio Northern University: #2 among regional universities in the MidwestOhio State University: #41 among regional universities (Tie)Ohio University: #179 among regional universities in the Midwest (Tie)Ohio Dominican University: #91 among regional universities in the Midwest (Tie)Ohio Wesleyan University: #119 among liberal arts colleges (tie)College of Wooster: #77 among liberal arts colleges (tie)University of Akron: #377 among liberal arts colleges (tie)University of Cincinnati: #152 among liberal arts colleges (tie)University of Dayton: #136 among liberal arts colleges (tie)University of Findlay: #359 among liberal arts colleges (tie)University of Toledo: #296 among liberal arts colleges (tie)Walsh University: #352 among liberal arts colleges (tie)Wilberforce University: #61 among HBCUs (tie)Wittenberg University: #153 among liberal arts colleges (tie)Xavier University: #209 among liberal arts colleges (tie)Youngstown State University: #98 among Midwest regional universities (tie)
Are there any other university rankings?
In response to U.S. News and World Report’s annual Best Colleges rankings, many other publications have also produced their own lists, with each publication using a slightly different methodology to create their rankings.
For example, Washington Monthly focuses on a school’s contributions to the public good in multiple areas, while Niche, a school review and ratings website, surveys student satisfaction on a range of topics, including campus dining and college admissions.
The Wall Street Journal evaluates universities in three main categories: student outcomes, learning environment and diversity.
Last year, The New York Times released a “Build Your Own College Rankings” tool that lets users create their own list of the best colleges by adjusting sliders for variables such as economic mobility, affordability, sports, racial diversity and party scene.
Forbes ranks schools using just six factors: academic performance, alumni salaries, debt, student satisfaction, on-time graduation rates, and American leaders (based on a website’s database of billionaires, public servants, and other successful people).
Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for the Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for her education newsletter, Extra Credit, here.
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