Princeton is nation’s best university, latest rankings show

New Jersey’s Princeton University has emerged as the best college in the US for the 2022-2023 period, per a global authority in education rankings.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is placed second—pushing Columbia University from No. 2 to No. 18—followed by a three-way tie for the third spot between Harvard, Stanford and Yale universities, according to rankings announced Monday by the US News & World Report.

Columbia University’s great fall comes as the school admitted to submitting wrong data for ranking consideration, according to a statement released by the university Friday.

Evaluation
The rankings evaluated 1,500 colleges and universities across the US on 17 measures of academic quality, including graduation rates, retention rates, graduate indebtedness and social mobility.

“For nearly 40 years, the Best Colleges methodology has continuously evolved to reflect changes in the higher education landscape and the interests of prospective students,” said US News’ editor Kim Castro, adding, “Guiding that evolution is US News’ mission of providing useful data and information to help with one of life’s biggest decisions.”

Critics, however, don’t find the reputation-based ranking system fair.