Princeton Ranked No. 1 by U.S. News Yet Again

For the 12th consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named Princeton the overall best university in the country. U.S. News also ranked Princeton third in undergraduate teaching (tied with Rice University), second in best value schools, fourth in best colleges for veterans, and first in senior capstone.

In a University statement, spokesman Michael Hotchkiss said that while Princeton appreciates recognition of its efforts, “… as President Eisgruber has said, rankings are not the best tools for making college decisions. We recommend prospective students rely more on resources such as the Department of Education’s College Scorecard, that allow comparisons among institutions on important measures including the graduation rate for students from similar backgrounds, post-graduation outcomes, net cost, and student and faculty engagement.”

In contrast to previous years, fellow Ivy-Leaguer Columbia University tumbled to No. 18 from its second-place spot a year ago. The fall was expected given that three days ahead of the rankings release, and months after one of its professors acted as a whistleblower, Columbia acknowledged “deficiencies” in its prior reporting of facts such as class sizes and full-time faculty; according to a New York Times story published earlier this year, U.S. News “relie[s] on schools to accurately report their data.”

MIT is No. 2 in the latest rankings after being tied with Columbia and Harvard last year. Harvard ranks No. 3, tied with Stanford and Yale.

Following is a list of how Princeton fared in other rankings this year:

Forbes: No. 4 in America’s Top Colleges, a one-spot drop from last year

Princeton Review: No. 1 in Top 50 Private Best Value Colleges Overall, No. 1 for Best Value Colleges for Financial Aid (Private Schools), No. 4 in Top 20 Best Career Placement (Private Schools)

Money: No. 2 in Best Selective Colleges

Washington Monthly: No. 4 in Top 30 National Universities, No. 7 in Best Bang for the Buck Colleges (Northeast)

Times Higher Education: No. 7 in World University Rankings

Niche: No. 5 in Best Colleges in America, No. 5 in Best Value Colleges in America, No. 4 in Colleges with the Best Academics in America, No. 5 in Top Private Universities in America

Shanghai Ranking: No. 6 in Academic Ranking of World Universities

BestColleges.Com: No. 5 in Best Colleges in America

QS World University Rankings: No. 16 (tie) in Top Global Universities