Private or public. National or regional rankings. Liberal arts. There are multiple factors used to measure higher education institutions.
While multiple data sources can be overwhelming, it’s helpful to see the information aggregated side by side.
That’s why Buffalo Business First compiled a sampling of some of the more well-known sources for college rankings. All listings are 2022 rankings unless otherwise noted.
Forbes (2021)
By changing its methodology to account for low-income student outcomes and a federal database to Forbes’ counts of graduate earnings, the University of California at Berkeley, a public school, topped the 2021 list of America’s top colleges.
The business magazine has been compiling the top colleges list for 13 years. (At the time of publication, Forbes’ 2022 list had not yet come out.)
Columbia University at No. 5 and Cornell University at No. 13 ranked the highest in New York state.
In Western New York, the University at Buffalo came in at No. 111.
Niche
The school researching and data website evaluates colleges from top public and private universities to best in value, best by major, hardest schools to get in, diversity, campus life and more.
MIT once again topped the private school ranks, while the University of California – Los Angeles ranked No. 1 on the public school list.
In New York, Columbia University came in first, followed by Cornell University and the United States Military Academy at West Point, respectively.
Top private universities
Top public universities
The Princeton Review
The college admissions services company, which has been doing lists since 1992, chose 386 best colleges for its annual book. The Princeton Review typically ranks top-20 colleges in multiple subcategories like best value and best schools for specifical programs but does not do an overall ranking. Instead, it lists all 386 best schools in alphabetical order.
This year, because the pandemic limited some students access to on-campus activities, the Review opted to include “great lists” of schools that frequently made lists in multiple categories in the past. Lists were compiled by surveying 143,000 students.
The only two Western New York schools to make the overall best colleges list are
• Alfred University
• St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure once again made The Princeton Review’s list of great college radio stations.
U.S. News & World Report
The American media company’s annual college rankings, which started 37 years ago, are broken down into multiple categories such as top national universities, liberal arts colleges and regional universities and colleges.
The rankings were made using surveys and reliable third-party sources.
Princeton University once again topped the country’s list of best national universities, with Columbia University ranking No. 2.
Best national universities
National liberal arts colleges
Regional universities, north
Regional colleges, north
Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education
These rankings include almost 800 universities and are based on 15 performance indicators.
Harvard University topped the list, followed by Stanford University, MIT and Yale University.
Cornell University at No. 11 ranked the highest among schools in New York state, and Columbia University was the next highest at No. 16.
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