In Short: Princeton Leads U.S. News Rankings for 15th Straight Year

Princeton topped the U.S. News & World Report ranking of Best National Universities for the 15th year in a row. In the annual publication, released Sept. 23, the University also ranked No. 1 in Best Value Schools based on its average cost after receiving grants ($13,939) and the share of undergraduates receiving need-based aid (67%). The recognition comes as universities across the country face budget cuts and other challenges. 

In a 2021 President’s Page column, President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 acknowledged the visibility of the rankings, but cautioned against putting too much emphasis on “the rankings game.” “Indeed, before Princetonians feel too good about the University’s top spot, we should remember that there are plenty of rankings out there, and pecking orders vary,” he wrote. 

Princeton ranked No. 3 behind MIT and Columbia in Forbes’ 2026 list of America’s Top Colleges, which calculates rankings based on alumni salary, debt, graduation rate, representation on the Forbes American Leaders List, return on investment, retention rate, and academic success; and No. 8 in Niche’s 2026 Best Colleges in America, which calculates rankings based on academics, value, professors, campus diversity, student life, student surveys, local area, and safety. MIT was first in the Niche list as well.

For more than a decade, Princeton’s Prison Teaching Initiative (PTI), which provides postsecondary education to incarcerated students in New Jersey, has relied on funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for its summer research opportunities. PTI received funding from the INCLUDES initiative, which aimed to broaden participation in STEM fields. Now, the NSF has told the University that it’s terminating its support, as INCLUDES was viewed as a diversity program. “The cuts to those grants, which created pathways to STEM for those that have been traditionally left out of the field, are what have put programs like ours at risk,” Brandon Kronstat, the associate director of PTI, told PAW. The Trump administration has scaled back on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and now uses a list of DEI keywords to evaluate NSF grants for compliance.

Tina Campt, a Black feminist theorist of visual culture and contemporary art, was named the new director of the Princeton Atelier, succeeding poet Paul Muldoon, who transferred to emeritus status in July. Campt is the fourth director of the multi-disciplinary program of undergraduate seminars, which was founded by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison in 1994. 

The Lewis Center for the Arts also announced that poet Ilya Kaminsky was named new director of the Program in Creative Writing. Kaminsky, a professor of creative writing since 2023, succeeds Yiyun Li, who has led the program since 2022.