MIT Unseats Princeton as U.S. News’ No. 1-Ranked College

U.S. News & World Report ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology No. 1 on its annual list of Best National Universities, bumping Princeton to No. 2 after 15 consecutive years in the top spot. U.S. News, which announced its rankings early on Tuesday, also listed Princeton first among Best Value Schools and in the Senior Capstone category. 

U.S. News credited MIT’s rise to high marks for faculty research, standardized test scores, and post-graduation earnings, according to a New York Times article. The 2027 methodology used a new “graduates’ earnings by major” factor, U.S. News wrote, which replaced the median federal loan debt factor, historically a strength for Princeton. “Princeton’s underlying rankings data netted out about the same,” Eric Brooks, U.S. News’ director of education data analysis, told the Times. “But the gap between Princeton and other universities had narrowed over the past few editions since we added faculty research metrics.”

Ivy League peers Harvard and Yale ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, on the U.S. News list, while Caltech and Stanford tied for the No. 5 spot.

University spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss declined to comment on the U.S. News list and college rankings in general. Princeton’s administration has historically downplayed the importance of rankings. President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, in an October 2021 PAW column titled “The Rankings Mishegoss,” envisioned an alternative model in which publications “might treat colleges more like Consumer Reports treats cars” and “inform prospective students and families about the factors that matter when choosing a college.” Those factors could include graduation rates, post-graduation outcomes, net cost, faculty quality and engagement, and the learning culture of the institution, Eisgruber wrote.

MIT also led Forbes’ 2027 list of America’s Top Colleges and Niche’s 2027 Best Colleges in America. Princeton was No. 2 in the Forbes ranking, which focuses on outcomes such as academic and career success, student debt, and leadership; and No. 5 in the Niche list, which calculates rankings based on factors that include academics, value, professors, diversity, and student life. The Princeton Review put Princeton in the top spot on its list of Best Value Colleges (Private Schools). The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse Best Colleges list, which placed Stanford No. 1 and Princeton No. 4 last fall, has not yet been released for 2027.