U.S. News & World Report on Monday released its annual Best Colleges rankings, and several Pennsylvania schools were among the top 100.
The media outlet, which has been publishing its report since 1983, ranked 1,466 colleges and universities and said more than 1,850 responded to its annual survey.
U.S. News & World Report says it measures academic quality using 17 metrics, “with the most weight placed on outcomes, including not only the ability of a college to retain and graduate its students from different socioeconomic backgrounds but also their graduates' average indebtedness. Class size, undergraduate academic reputation and how much colleges invest in instruction and student services are among the other data points U.S. News collected to develop the latest set of rankings.”
In the category of national universities, the University of Pennsylvania received the state’s highest-ranking at No. 8.
Carnegie Mellon University, which was the top school listed in Western Pennsylvania, received a national ranking of No. 25. The other Pennsylvania schools that rounded out the top 100 were Lehigh University and Villanova, which were in a six-way tie at No. 49, the University of Pittsburgh at No. 59 and Penn State University at No. 63.
Other local schools that were ranked nationally were Duquesne (No. 148), Chatham (No. 172) and Robert Morris University (No. 187).
The top-ranking was given to Princeton University. Columbia University, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology finished in a tie for second place. Yale University rounded out the top 5.
According to the USN&WR’s ranking, CMU, which was tied with the University of Virginia, had an enrollment of 7,073 in the fall of 2020. For 2021-22, the average cost to attend CMU is $58,924. Another $16,150 will be needed for room and board, according to the report. It also was ranked No. 5 in the category of Most Innovative Schools, finishing behind top-ranked Arizona State, Georgia State, MIT and Georgia Tech.
The rankings also included National Liberal Arts Colleges. In that category, Allegheny College was ranked No. 85. Washington & Jefferson College was ranked No. 92. Grove City was ranked No. 105. Westminster was 117. Saint Vincent College was ranked No. 146.
Here’s how the Pennsylvania schools are listed in U.S. News & World Report’s National rankings:
No. 8: University of Pennsylvania
No. 25: Carnegie Mellon University
No. 49: Lehigh University
No. 49: Villanova University
No. 59: University of Pittsburgh
No. 63: Penn State University
No. 103: Temple University
No. 103: Drexel University
No. 148: Duquesne University
No. 172: Chatham University
No. 187: Robert Morris University
No. 202: Misericordia University
No. 213: Widener University
No. 213: Wilkes University
No. 227: Gannon University
No. 227: Immaculata University
First Published: September 13, 2021, 6:33 p.m.
Updated: September 14, 2021, 2:29 p.m.