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In the 2027 Best National Universities Rankings released on Sept. 22, Princeton slipped to second place after holding the top position since the 2012 edition. Harvard University and Yale University retained the third and fourth positions, respectively, while the California Institute of Technology and Stanford University tied for fifth.
MIT secured the top spot by scoring strongly in critical metrics such as faculty research, standardized test scores among incoming students, and graduate earnings.
The publication's 2027 methodology evaluates national universities across 17 key measures of academic quality and student outcomes.
The rankings place a heavy emphasis on graduation rates, graduate success, and newly added metrics tracking earnings by major. Peer assessment remains the most heavily weighted indicator at 20%, designed to capture qualitative attributes through surveys of top administrators at other institutions. Graduation rates account for 16% of the final score, followed by graduation rate performance at 10%.
Eric Brooks, the director of education data analysis at U.S. News, told The New York Times that Princeton's underlying data remained largely unchanged. However, the university's historical lead had narrowed in recent editions following the inclusion of faculty research measures in the ranking formula.
U.S. News began publishing its college rankings in 1983 and evaluated a record number of schools this year.
Among the top 20 institutions in the latest edition, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Los Angeles, are the only public universities, tying for the 20th position.
Top 20 U.S. universities in the 2027 Best National Universities Rankings:
| Rank | Universities | Tuitions & fees (USD) |
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 67,140 |
| 2 | Princeton University | 68,454 |
| 3 | Harvard University | 68,442 |
| 4 | Yale University | 72,500 |
| 5 (tie) | California Institute of Technology | 71,229 |
| 5 (tie) | Stanford University | 68,574 |
| 7 | University of Pennsylvania | 73,978 |
| 8 | Duke University | 76,375 |
| 9 (tie) | Johns Hopkins University | 69,170 |
| 9 (tie) | University of Chicago | 71,845 |
| 9 (tie) | Northwestern University | 73,062 |
| 12 (tie) | Columbia University | 71,845 |
| 12 (tie) | Dartmouth College | 72,388 |
| 14 (tie) | Carnegie Mellon University | 65,000 |
| 14 (tie) | Cornell University | 71,000 |
| 16 (tie) | Brown University | 71,000 |
| 16 (tie) | Rice University | 63,000 |
| 16 (tie) | Vanderbilt University | 67,000 |
| 20 (tie) | University of California, Berkeley | $57,000 |
| 20 (tie) | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | $56,000 |
| 20 (tie) | University of Notre Dame | $67,000 |
