U.S. News

U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” of 2024 rankings are out. This year’s list places a greater emphasis on mobility and outcomes, which the publisher is calling “the most significant methodological change in the rankings’ history.” New this year is a factor that tracks the graduation rates of first-generation college students. Despite the attempts at leveling the playing field, highly selective schools continue to occupy the top spots: Princeton University is still No. 1, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is still in second place, and Harvard and Stanford Universities tied for third. But some public institutions climbed significantly—the City College of New York and San Diego State University both jumped 46 places—while some private colleges with little socioeconomic diversity, such as American University and Wake Forest University, dropped by double digits. Last year, Yale and Harvard’s law schools announced they would no longer participate in the U.S. News rankings—a decision that had a domino effect on other elite-school law and medical programs. For the most part, however, the rankings continue to be entrenched at undergraduate schools, even while their influence is shrinking.