2019 US News Best Colleges Rankings
Section 1：Introduction
If you’ve decided to study abroad in the US, you’re probably already familiar with US News Best College Rankings. If you haven’t seen their rankings of the best universities in the US and best liberal arts universities, you’ve probably at least heard about the college rankings and some of the most highly ranked universities and colleges in the US, like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and MIT. Some students consider the US News College Rankings as their “Bible” for choosing the right college, while others simply like to take these rankings into consideration. No matter what you think about these rankings, they can be helpful when you’re trying to decide which universities to apply for.
Section 2: University Classification
US News divides American universities into four categories: National Universities, National Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities, and Regional Colleges. National Universities have a range of undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs, and tend to focus a lot on in-depth research. National Liberal Arts Colleges mostly only have undergraduate programs and more than half of their students study arts or sciences. Regional Universities offer a wide range of undergraduate programs, and a few schools have graduate and doctoral programs as well. Regional Colleges also focus on undergraduate education. Unlike the National Liberal Arts Colleges though, the Regional Colleges offer many two-year specialist programs.
Section 3: 2019 Best National Universities
|
2019 Ranking |
Ranking Changes |
College Name |
State |
Location |
Undergrad Students |
Faculty Ratio |
Nearby Airport Code |
|
1 |
→ |
Princeton University |
NJ |
Suburban |
5236 |
5:1 |
EWR, JFK, PHL |
|
2 |
→ |
Harvard University |
MA |
City |
7447 |
7:1 |
BOS |
|
3 |
↑2 |
Columbia University |
NY |
City |
8124 |
6:1 |
LGA, EWR, JFK |
|
3 |
↑2 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
MA |
City |
4489 |
3:1 |
BOS |
|
3 |
→ |
University of Chicago |
IL |
City |
5978 |
6:1 |
MDW, ORD |
|
3 |
→ |
Yale University |
CT |
City |
5471 |
6:1 |
HVN, LGA, JFK, EWR, BOS |
|
7 |
↓2 |
Stanford University |
CA |
Suburban |
7032 |
10:1 |
SFO, SJC |
|
8 |
↑1 |
Duke University |
NC |
City |
6467 |
7:1 |
RDU |
|
8 |
→ |
University of Pennsylvania |
PA |
City |
10698 |
6:1 |
PHL |
|
10 |
↑1 |
Johns Hopkins University |
MD |
City |
5616 |
10:1 |
BWI, IAD |
|
10 |
↑1 |
Northwestern University |
IL |
City |
8563 |
7:1 |
MDW, ORD |
Princeton University
|
12 |
↓2 |
California Institute of Technology |
CA |
City |
979 |
3:1 |
BUR, LAX |
|
12 |
↓1 |
Dartmouth College |
NH |
Town |
4230 |
7:1 |
LEB, BOS |
|
14 |
→ |
Brown University |
RI |
City |
6580 |
7:1 |
PVD, BOS |
|
14 |
→ |
Vanderbilt University |
TN |
City |
6844 |
8:1 |
BNA |
|
16 |
↓2 |
Cornell University |
NY |
City |
14471 |
9:1 |
ITH |
|
16 |
↓2 |
Rice University |
TX |
City |
3879 |
6:1 |
HOU, IAH |
|
18 |
→ |
University of Notre Dame |
IN |
Suburban |
8496 |
10:1 |
ORD, MDW |
|
19 |
↑2 |
University of California Los Angeles |
CA |
City |
30859 |
17:1 |
LAX |
|
19 |
↓1 |
Washington University in St. Louis |
MO |
Suburban |
7116 |
8:1 |
STL |
Harvard University
|
21 |
→ |
Emory University |
GA |
Suburban |
6717 |
11:1 |
ATL |
|
22 |
↓2 |
Georgetown University |
MD |
City |
7112 |
11:1 |
DCA, IAD, BWI |
|
22 |
↓1 |
University of California Berkeley |
CA |
City |
29309 |
18:1 |
SFO |
|
22 |
↓1 |
University of Southern California |
CA |
City |
18557 |
9:1 |
LAX |
|
25 |
→ |
Carnegie Mellon University |
PA |
City |
6188 |
10:1 |
PIT |
|
25 |
→ |
University of Virginia |
VA |
Suburban |
15963 |
15:1 |
CHO |
|
27 |
↑2 |
Tufts University |
MA |
Suburban |
5459 |
8:1 |
BOS |
|
27 |
↑1 |
University of Michigan Ann Arbor |
MI |
City |
28761 |
12:1 |
DTW |
|
27 |
→ |
Wake Forest University |
NC |
City |
4949 |
10:1 |
GSO, CLT, RDU |
|
30 |
→ |
New York University |
NY |
City |
25716 |
10:1 |
LGA, JFK, EWR |
|
30 |
↑7 |
University of California Santa Barbara |
CA |
Suburban |
21570 |
18:1 |
SBA, LAX, BUR |
|
30 |
→ |
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill |
NC |
City |
18169 |
13:1 |
IGX |
Columbia University
|
33 |
↑9 |
University of California Irvine |
CA |
City |
27317 |
18:1 |
SNA, LAX |
|
33 |
↑1 |
University of Rochester |
NY |
City |
6235 |
10:1 |
ROC |
|
35 |
↓1 |
Brandeis University |
MA |
City |
3597 |
10:1 |
BOS |
|
35 |
↓1 |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
GA |
City |
14766 |
20:1 |
ATL |
|
35 |
↑7 |
University of Florida |
FL |
City |
33309 |
20:1 |
GNV |
|
38 |
↓6 |
Boston College |
MA |
City |
9593 |
14:1 |
BOS |
|
38 |
↓6 |
College of William and Mary |
VA |
Suburban |
6245 |
12:1 |
ORF, PHF |
|
38 |
↑8 |
University of California Davis |
CA |
Suburban |
29358 |
20:1 |
SMF, SFO |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
|
41 |
↑1 |
University of California San Diego |
CA |
City |
28121 |
19:1 |
SAN, TIJ |
|
42 |
↓5 |
Boston University |
MA |
City |
16512 |
10:1 |
BOS |
|
42 |
↓5 |
Case Western Reserve University |
OH |
City |
5048 |
11:1 |
CLE |
|
44 |
↓4 |
Northeastern University |
MA |
City |
13345 |
14:1 |
BOS |
|
44 |
↓4 |
Tulane University |
LA |
City |
7942 |
8:1 |
MSY |
|
46 |
→ |
Pepperdine University |
CA |
Suburban |
3528 |
13:1 |
LAX |
|
46 |
↑8 |
University of Georgia |
GA |
City |
27851 |
18:1 |
ATL |
|
46 |
↑6 |
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign |
IL |
City |
32752 |
20:1 |
CMI, ORD |
|
49 |
↓3 |
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
NY |
City |
6200 |
15:1 |
ALB |
|
49 |
↑7 |
University of Texas Austin |
TX |
City |
39676 |
18:1 |
AUS |
|
49 |
↓3 |
University of Wisconsin Madison |
WI |
City |
29536 |
18:1 |
MSN |
|
49 |
↓3 |
Villanova University |
PA |
Suburban |
6862 |
12:1 |
PHL |
Yale University
Section 4: 2019 Best National Liberal Arts Colleges
|
2019 Ranking |
Ranking Changes |
College Name |
State |
Location |
Undergrad Students |
Faculty Ratio |
Nearby Airport Code |
|
1 |
→ |
Williams College |
MA |
Town |
2044 |
6:1 |
BOS |
|
2 |
→ |
Amherst College |
MA |
Suburban |
1846 |
8:1 |
BOS |
|
3 |
→ |
Swarthmore College |
PA |
Suburban |
1540 |
8:1 |
PHL |
|
3 |
→ |
Wellesley College |
MA |
Suburban |
2350 |
7:1 |
BOS |
|
5 |
↓2 |
Bowdoin College |
ME |
Town |
1799 |
9:1 |
PWM |
|
5 |
↑3 |
Carleton College |
MN |
Town |
2045 |
9:1 |
MSP |
|
5 |
↑1 |
Middlebury College |
VT |
Town |
2513 |
8:1 |
BTV, ALB, MHT |
|
5 |
↑1 |
Pomona College |
CA |
Suburban |
1547 |
7:1 |
ONT, LAX |
|
9 |
↓1 |
Claremont McKenna College |
CA |
Suburban |
1344 |
9:1 |
ONT, LAX, SNA, LBG |
|
10 |
→ |
Davidson College |
NC |
Suburban |
1791 |
10:1 |
CLT |
Wellesley College
|
11 |
↑7 |
Grinnell College |
IA |
Town |
1657 |
9:1 |
CID |
|
11 |
↑7 |
Haverford College |
PA |
Suburban |
1261 |
8:1 |
PHL |
|
11 |
↑1 |
Smith College |
MA |
Suburban |
2504 |
9:1 |
BDL |
|
11 |
↑1 |
Vassar College |
NY |
Suburban |
2400 |
8:1 |
SWF |
|
11 |
↓1 |
Washington and Lee University |
VA |
Town |
1820 |
8:1 |
ROA, CHO |
|
16 |
↓4 |
Colgate University |
NY |
Town |
2868 |
9:1 |
SYR |
|
16 |
↑2 |
Hamilton College |
NY |
Town |
1867 |
9:1 |
SYR |
|
18 |
↓6 |
Colby College |
ME |
Town |
1879 |
10:1 |
AUG, PWM, BOS |
|
18 |
↓6 |
Harvey Mudd College |
CA |
Suburban |
829 |
8:1 |
ONT, LAX, SNA |
|
18 |
↓1 |
United States Military Academy |
MD |
City |
72 |
7:1 |
SWF, HPN, EWR |
|
18 |
↑1 |
Wesleyan University |
CT |
City |
2913 |
8:1 |
JFK, LGA, BDL |
Vassar College
Section 5: Some comments about the 2019 US News Best College Ranking
In this year’s college rankings there have been a lot of changes and many universities have changed positions in the rankings. For example, public universities are starting to rank higher and higher on the US News list. California’s UC Santa Barbara and Davis made a huge leap in the 2019 ranking. Also, it is remarkable that UCLA has passed Berkeley University for the first time, becoming the first public university in the US to break into the top 20 on the US News list.
These changes likely have a lot to do with the changing criteria US News uses to indicate the score of a university. For example, a new social class mobility index ranking takes into account Pell Grant accessibility at a university. As a result, many California schools made a jump in the rankings due to this new criteria. New criteria has also reduced the weight of factors like acceptance rate. This is a disadvantage for schools who have previously ranked high due to very selective admissions processes.
Overall, this change in ranking indicators reflects US News’ emphasis on educational equality. The criteria for the US News rankings changes every year, so it’s important not to take these changes and the college rankings too seriously. What’s most important to understand the reasons for the changes. Know what kind of education you want and what the institution has to offer so that you can choose your favorite school.
Univeristy of California Los Angeles
Resources:
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings
http://www.dailycal.org/2018/09/13/uc-berkeley-ranks-below-ucla-as-2nd-best-public-school-in-us/