The annual U.S. News Best Colleges Rankings have officially been released, and Evanston's very own Northwestern landed at No. 6 on the coveted list, sharing the honor with Duke University, Johns Hopkins University and the California Institute of Technology. The University of Chicago was also included, tying with Cornell University at No. 11.
In terms of methodology, the outlet took several factors into account, from graduation rates to peer assessments, financial resources per student, faculty salaries, student-faculty ratio, citations per publication and more.
Last year, the publication decided to also account for first-generation graduation rates when making its ranking calculations.
Whether applying to colleges or not, the survey is a useful reminder that universities are about much more than academics.
The 2025 U.S. News Best Colleges Rankings:
1. Princeton University in New Jersey
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Massachusetts
3. Harvard University in Massachusetts
4. Stanford University in California
5. Yale University in Connecticut
6. California Institute of Technology in California
6. Duke University in North Carolina
6. Johns Hopkins University in Maryland
6. Northwestern University in Illinois
10. University of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania
11. Cornell University in New York
11. University of Chicago in Illinois
13. Brown University in Rhode Island
13. Columbia University in New York
15. Dartmouth College in New Hampshire
15. University of California, Los Angeles in California
17. University of California, Berkeley in California
18. Rice University in Texas
19. University of Notre Dame in Indiana
19. Vanderbilt University in Tennessee