2020 College Rankings Are Out

Princeton and Williams rule their respective categories at 'US News,' again
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 9, 2019 9:20 AM CDT
2020 College Rankings Are Out
Princeton is No. 1 again.   (Getty/chrisbradshaw)

US News & World Report is out with its annual, and controversial, rankings of American colleges. The magazine has various categories, but the two big ones are national universities and liberal arts colleges. Princeton takes top honors in the first category for the ninth straight year and Williams College in the second for the 17th straight year, per the Washington Post. In fact, Forbes sees a lot of the same names in top spots year after year. "This rankings inertia stems from both institutional continuity and a largely repetitive methodology," writes Michael T. Nietzel. "It is too easy for schools to game the system and falsify data." Still, the rankings get lots of attention every year. Read on for the top 10 national universities and the top 10 liberal arts colleges.

Top national universities:

  • No. 1: Princeton
  • No. 2: Harvard
  • No. 3 (tie): Columbia
  • No. 3 (tie): MIT
  • No. 3 (tie): Yale
  • No. 6 (tie) Stanford
  • No. 6 (tie) University of Chicago
  • No. 6 (tie) University of Pennsylvania
  • No. 9: Northwestern
  • No. 10 (tie): Duke
  • No. 10 (tie): Johns Hopkins
Read on for the top 10 liberal arts colleges.

Top liberal arts colleges:

  • No. 1: Williams
  • No. 2: Amherst
  • No. 3 (tie): Swarthmore
  • No. 3 (tie): Wellesley
  • No. 5: Pomona
  • No. 6: Bowdoin
  • No. 7 (tie): Carleton
  • No. 7 (tie): Claremont McKenna
  • No. 7 (tie): Middlebury
  • No. 10: Washington and Lee
(See all the rankings here.)

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