Every September, as students settle back into fall routines, the new school year ushers in a fresh batch of college rankings. Described by U.S. News and World Report as “a tool for understanding academic quality,” rankings are the product of research, data collection, coding, analysis, and debate. In recent years, the legitimacy of these rankings has been called into question, especially after investigations of fudged or inaccurate data.
These lists, while imperfect, are still a widely used method of assessing a college’s desirability (though, as recent reports have indicated, they do not play as notable a role now as they once did).
Two particularly noteworthy rankings were released this month: the Wall Street Journal/College Pulse “2024 Best Colleges in America” and the U.S. News Best Colleges: 2024 Edition.
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WSJ/COLLEGE PULSE 2024 BEST COLLEGES IN THE U.S.
The Wall Street Journal’s list ranks the top 400 universities in the country with a focus on outcomes. Unlike other rankings that might measure the coursework, academic opportunities, facilities, and quality of faculty, “our ranking puts even greater emphasis on two practical and measurable questions about each school: How much will the college improve its students’ chances of graduating on time? And how much will it improve the salaries they earn after receiving their diplomas?”
While the top 5 schools are fairly predictable (though it’s notable to see Harvard slip to the #6 position) this year’s top 15 includes a few surprises, notably Babson College at #10 and Lehigh University taking the #14 spot.
- Princeton University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Yale University
- Stanford University
- Columbia University
- Harvard University
- University of Pennsylvania
- Amherst College
- Claremont McKenna College
- Babson College
- Swarthmore College
- Georgetown University
- Vanderbilt University
- Lehigh University
- University of Florida
It’s also worth noting the strong performance of small liberal-arts colleges, including Amherst College, Claremont McKenna College and Swarthmore College (each of which have fewer than 2,000 undergraduate students). On the flip side, Brown University and John Hopkins University, which are usually at the top of national rankings, fell to #67 (the lowest-ranked Ivy League institution) and #99, respectively, due to the combination of high tuition costs and relatively low salaries of recent graduates.
New York University, which came it at a surprising #166, offered this official statement: “Ranking universities is a pretty dubious exercise to begin with, but it’s particularly futile to compare one year’s outcomes to the next when there’s been a major shift in methodology.”
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT: BEST COLLEGES 2024
After mounting pressure to revise their methodology, this year’s rankings, according to the official press release, “placed a greater emphasis on social mobility and outcomes for graduating college students, demonstrating the most significant methodological change in the rankings’ history.”
In addition, five factors were removed: class size, faculty with terminal degrees, alumni giving, high school class standing and the proportion of graduates who borrow federal loans.
For the first time, USNWR has released rankings for two specific, popular degrees: the best undergraduate economics program and the best undergraduate psychology program.
In the National Liberal Arts Colleges rankings, the military academies had an exceptionally strong performance (the United States Air Force Academy came in at #7, up from #18) while Barnard College moved up from #18 to #11.
Take a look, below, at a few additional highlights:
2024 Best National Universities – Top 3
1. Princeton University (NJ)
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Harvard University (MA) (tie)
3. Stanford University (CA) (tie)
2024 Best National Liberal Arts Colleges – Top 3
1. Williams College (MA)
2. Amherst College (MA)
3. United States Naval Academy (MD)
2024 Top Public Schools: National Universities – Top 3
1. University of California, Berkeley (tie)
1. University of California, Los Angeles (tie)
3. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
As in past years, USNRW includes a few specialized rankings, such as the most innovative colleges, universities and schools with the greatest commitment to undergraduate teaching, and those best for veterans, among others.
A FINAL NOTE
Even if student engagement with these rankings has waned, concerns about ranking accuracy continues to drive institutional decision-making at the trustee and administrative level. With this in mind, U.S. News has rolled out a new product, U.S. News Academic Insights, which charges universities $20,000-$30,000 for access to the ranking methodology and to help “identify important trends to aid strategic decisions.”
As Top Tier Admissions Senior Private Counselor, Heidi Lovette, has said:
“Reducing this variability and complexity into a simple comparative ranking masks most of the attributes that make each institution special. The oversimplification of the ratings is particularly salient for applicants with strong, specific, or special interests. Focusing on the overall rankings alone, you overlook the fact that particular schools, including those lower on the overall list, often have world-class programs in specialized areas.”
Remember that college rankings are merely one metric by which to “measure” a college or university. At Top Tier Admissions, we look beyond these calculations to help students identify which factors matter most to them and prioritize personal “fit,” the most important metric of all.