U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings of the top universities and colleges in the US on Tuesday. It has evaluated nearly 1,700 institutions using 17 measures of academic quality in order to rank the best colleges of 2026.
“For over four decades, Best Colleges has served as a trusted and data-backed resource for students and families navigating the complex college search process,” LaMont Jones, the managing editor for Education at U.S. News, said in a press release. “Over the years, Best Colleges has evolved into a comprehensive tool that reflects the changing landscape of higher education, providing prospective students with a crucial starting point to identify schools that align with their academic and personal goals.”
The 2026 rankings took new factors into consideration
Although the method used to rank colleges has broadly remained the same over the years, the publication made small changes for 2026. It adjusted factors to reflect evolving admissions considerations, cohort representation and student involvement.
“While the general scoring weights and factors remained consistent, the 2026 rankings made a few small adjustments to ensure the results accurately reflect the evolving landscape of higher education,” Jones said. “By considering students’ credit hours and increasing the minimum number of students for a cohort, the rankings deliver a view of institutional investment in students, and graduation and retention rates.”
Top national universities
This category includes universities at the national level that offer a full range of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs. They are also recognized for investing and producing groundbreaking research. The best national universities are as follows:
- Princeton University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Stanford University
- Yale University
Top public colleges and universities
U.S. News & World Report describes public institutions as those that operate and are funded by tax dollars and subsidies from state governments.
“As a result, these universities often offer discounted tuition to residents of their states,” the publication indicated. “Public schools run the gamut from small liberal arts colleges to large research institutions.”
The best public universities and colleges are as follows:
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California —Los Angeles
- University of Michigan — Ann Arbor
- University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
- University of Virginia
Top 10 HBCUs of 2026 include Spelman and Howard
The list also ranked HBCUs, which were compared only with one another for this list. U.S. News & World Report noted that only institutions considered to be an HBCU by the Department of Education qualified. Institutions also had to grant undergraduate baccalaureates enrolling primarily first-year and first-time students in order to be considered.
The best HBCUs are as follows:
- Spelman College
- Howard University
- Morehouse College
- Tuskegee University
- Florida A&M University
- Xavier University of Louisiana
- Hampton University
- North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
- Morgan State University
- Delaware State University