The rankings from the good people at U.S. News and World Report are out and Princeton has grabbed the top spot among national universities. The top five universities (six this year due to a tie) are Princeton (1), Harvard (2), Yale (3), Columbia (4), and University of Chicago (5) and Stanford (5). I am happy to see my alma mater UChicago at 5th place, though I would quibble with the precise line up. The most useful aspect of these rankings is to see the spread on tuition costs and other objective criteria.
Notably, California Institute of Technology makes the top ten in a tie with Dartmouth. Look at its enrollment numbers, however. CIT is reporting less than a 1000, making it a university with the class sizes of a college. Remarkable.
Here is the top 10:
1.Princeton University Princeton, NJ Tuition and fees: $ 40,170 (2013-14) Enrollment: 5,336
2. Harvard University Cambridge, MA Tuition and fees: $ 42,292 (2013-14) Enrollment: 6,658
3. Yale University New Haven, CT Tuition and fees: $ 44,000 (2013-14) Enrollment: 5,405
4. Columbia University New York, NY Tuition and fees: $ 49,138 (2013-14) Enrollment: 6,068
5. Stanford University Stanford, CA Tuition and fees: $ 43,245 (2013-14) Enrollment: 7,063
5. University of Chicago Chicago, IL Tuition and fees: $ 46,386 (2013-14) Enrollment: 5,590
7.Duke University Durham, NC Tuition and fees: $ 45,476 (2013-14) Enrollment: 6,655
7.Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA Tuition and fees: $ 43,498 (2013-14) Enrollment: 4,503
7.University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Tuition and fees: $ 45,890 (2013-14) Enrollment: 9,682
10. California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA Tuition and fees: $ 41,538 (2013-14) Enrollment: 997
10. Dartmouth College Hanover, NH Tuition and fees: $ 46,752 (2013-14) Enrollment: 4,193
There is more surprises in the remainder of top 20 (which include multiple ties): Johns Hopkins University (12), Northwestern (12), Brown (14), Washington University in St. Louis (14), Cornell (16), Vanderbilt (17), Rice (18), Notre Dame(18), Emory (20), Georgetown (20), and Berkeley (20). Everyone of these rankings is a bit of a surprise in my view. Johns Hopkins continues to rank just under the top ten schools. However, it is Washington University’s placement that is most notable in my view.
George Washington University had a disappointing placement as 52 — just out of the top 50. I honestly view that as artificially low due to the high tuition factor. Nevertheless, it is in good company with University of Texas (Austin) and University of Washington. The GWU administration has been hit recently with accounting errors that were an embarrassment for the school. Notably, there is a jump of tied schools just above GWU, meaning that meaningful changes could result is a significant jump.