Princeton Takes Top Spot In Ranking of National Universities

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.

On the college side, the top five are Williams (1), Amherst (2), Swarthmore (3), Bowdoin (4), Middlebury (4), and Pomona (4).