Carnegie Mellon University and Penn State are the highest ranked universities in the region, according to a new analysis by U.S. News & World Report.
The media company released its annual colleges ranking on Sunday that examined nearly 1,500 institutions across the country.
In that analysis, Carnegie Mellon University ranked 24th and Penn State 60th in the national universities ranking. The University of Pittsburgh earned the 67th spot.
Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Stanford University and Yale University topped this year’s list.
The U.S. News ranking made waves this year by using a new methodology to analyze schools.
It added three new factors to its consideration — including first-generation graduation rates, first-generation graduation rate performance and proportion of college graduates earning more than a college degree — and stopped considering five factors in the 2024 measure: class size, terminal degree faculty, alumni giving average, graduate debt proportion borrowing and high school class standing.
The weight of some factors also slightly changed in the 2024 ranking. Peer assessment, graduation rates and graduation rate performance remained the most considered factors. Combined, they make up about half of the ranking's weight.
Here’s how regional colleges performed in the ranking.
Penn State tops flagships
Penn State fared the best of the three flagship institutions in the region. It ranked 60th in the national university rankings, outpacing Pitt by seven points. In last year’s ranking, Penn State ranked 77th and Pitt earned the 62nd spot.
In U.S. News’ analysis of the University Park school, the school’s undergraduate engineering program ranked 19th in the nation.
Pitt, meanwhile, received recognition for its nursing program, which is the 10th best of its kind in the country, per U.S. News.
West Virginia University trailed the flagship schools in the Pittsburgh region, ranking 216th of 439 schools in the national university ranking.
State schools in the middle of the pack
The three regional universities in the state system earned average marks in their categories. Slippery Rock University and PennWest University, which were both ranked in the regional universities north category, placed 50th and 135th, respectively.
SRU jumped 35 places in that ranking compared to last year, when it ranked 85th.
Meanwhile, the Indiana University of Pennsylvania was ranked on the national universities list. It ranked 320th of those schools.
CMU ranks in best in region
Carnegie Mellon University achieved the highest marks of any university in the region. It placed 24th in the national universities ranking, falling slightly from its 22nd placement last year.
In its assessment of the elite institution, U.S. News ranked CMU’s computer engineering program, management information systems program and artificial intelligence program as the best in the country.
Other Pittsburgh-area private universities included in the national ranking include Duquesne University (151), Robert Morris University (201), Chatham University (209) and Point Park University (352).
In the regional universities north ranking, Seton Hill University earned the highest ranking of the private universities at 39th. Other private universities measured in that ranking included Geneva College (69), Carlow University (87), Waynesburg University (111) and La Roche University (137).
Of the area’s four private institutions ranked in the national liberal arts colleges measure, Allegheny College ranked the highest at 75th. Other schools included in that ranking were Washington & Jefferson College (89), Westminster College (112) and Saint Vincent College (124).
Grove City College was the only area school in the regional college north ranking. It placed fourth in that measure.
First Published: September 20, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: September 20, 2023, 1:19 p.m.
