Wall Street Journal College Rankings

JOURNAL REPORTS: COLLEGE RANKINGS
Harvard Takes Top Honors in WSJ/THE College Rankings

By Douglas Belkin, Melissa Korn

Sep. 28, 2017 12:01 am ET


Schools in the Northeast dominate the top 10, with six Ivies making the cut.


Appeared in the September 27, 2017, print edition as 'Harvard Takes Top Honors.'

WSJ/THE College Rankings Emphasize—and Why


Graduates’ financial success and schools’ academic resources get the most weight, but you can customize the rankings with your own weightings.

SEP. 26, 2017
The Best Public Colleges in the U.S.
UCLA, Michigan, UNC lead the way among state schools in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings.

SEP. 26, 2017
Where College Students Are Most Inspired by Their Peers
In the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings, students at these colleges said their experiences were strongly shaped by others.

SEP. 26, 2017
Colleges That Prioritize Internships
Kettering University, Endicott College top the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education list of schools that students feel do best at providing career preparation through internships.

SEP. 26, 2017
Colleges Where Students Feel Challenged
Dordt College in Iowa and Texas Christian University rank highest in terms of student engagement in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education list.

SEP. 26, 2017
Biggest Surprises in the WSJ/THE College Rankings
Smaller schools excelled in some areas where the top schools lagged behind.

SEP. 26, 2017
Explore the Full WSJ/THE College Rankings With Our Searchable Tool (paywall)
How did your school do? Search and compare colleges, and re-calculate the rankings with the categories most important to you.

RANK

COLLEGE

OUTCOMES SCORE*

RESOURCES SCORE*

ENGAGEMENT SCORE*

ENVIRONMENT SCORE*

OVERALL SCORE

#1 Harvard University 39.5/40 29.8/30 15.6/20 7.0/10 91.9/100 Compare

#2 Columbia University 39.0/40 27.0/30 16.7/20 7.8/10 90.6/100 Compare

#3 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 38.2/40 29.2/30 15.8/20 7.2/10 90.4/100 Compare

#3 Stanford University 38.9/40 26.2/30 17.4/20 7.9/10 90.4/100 Compare

#5 Duke University 39.5/40 26.7/30 17.2/20 6.8/10 90.2/100 Compare

#6 Yale University 39.3/40 26.8/30 16.9/20 7.2/10 90.0/100 Compare

#7 California Institute of Technology 38.8/40 30.0/30 14.6/20 6.4/10 89.8/100 Compare

#8 University of Pennsylvania 38.4/40 27.0/30 17.3/20 6.9/10 89.6/100 Compare

#9 Princeton University 39.1/40 28.1/30 15.6/20 6.8/10 89.5/100 Compare

#10 Cornell University 38.1/40 26.8/30 17.5/20 6.6/10 88.9/100 Compare

#11 Brown University 36.1/40 26.8/30 17.7/20 7.0/10 87.5/100 Compare

#11 University of Chicago 38.2/40 26.9/30 15.5/20 6.8/10 87.5/100 Compare

#11 Washington University in St Louis 37.6/40 26.2/30 17.6/20 6.2/10 87.5/100 Compare

#14 Rice University 36.3/40 27.2/30 17.1/20 6.8/10 87.4/100 Compare

#15 Northwestern University 36.6/40 27.2/30 17.2/20 6.2/10 87.3/100 Compare

#15 University of Southern California 36.5/40 25.4/30 17.6/20 7.7/10 87.3/100 Compare

#17 Dartmouth College 37.0/40 26.6/30 17.3/20 5.9/10 86.8/100 Compare

#17 Johns Hopkins University 37.7/40 25.7/30 16.2/20 7.1/10 86.8/100 Compare

#19 Emory University 36.2/40 26.0/30 16.6/20 7.6/10 86.4/100 Compare

#20 Carnegie Mellon University 36.8/40 25.4/30 17.3/20 6.7/10 86.1/100

#21 Vanderbilt University 37.4/40 25.5/30 17.4/20 5.0/10 85.3/100 Compare

#22 Williams College 38.2/40 24.5/30 15.8/20 6.6/10 85.0/100 Compare

#23 Amherst College 37.5/40 24.1/30 15.4/20 7.4/10 84.4/100 Compare

#24 University of Notre Dame 37.0/40 24.4/30 17.1/20 4.6/10 83.1/100 Compare

#25 University of California, Los Angeles 36.7/40 19.8/30 16.9/20 8.8/10 82.2/100 Compare

#26 Pomona College 33.1/40 24.9/30 16.3/20 7.8/10 82.1/100 Compare

#27 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 37.6/40 21.0/30 17.3/20 6.0/10 81.8/100 Compare

#28 Wellesley College 33.0/40 24.3/30 16.6/20 7.1/10 81.1/100 Compare

#29 New York University 32.8/40 23.4/30 17.1/20 7.7/10 81.0/100 Compare

#30 Swarthmore College 32.2/40 24.2/30 17.3/20 7.2/10 80.9/100

#31 Georgetown University 35.3/40 23.1/30 16.1/20 6.3/10 80.8/100 Compare

#32 Tufts University 32.5/40 25.8/30 16.4/20 5.9/10 80.6/100 Compare

#33 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 37.6/40 20.7/30 16.5/20 5.3/10 80.2/100 Compare

#34 Case Western Reserve University 32.6/40 24.2/30 16.5/20 6.3/10 79.6/100 Compare

#35 Claremont McKenna College 31.3/40 24.8/30 16.7/20 6.7/10 79.5/100 Compare

#36 Middlebury College 33.9/40 23.7/30 16.5/20 4.8/10 79.0/100 Compare

#37 Smith College 31.5/40 23.7/30 16.9/20 6.9/10 78.9/100 Compare

#38 Carleton College 32.6/40 23.3/30 16.8/20 6.0/10 78.6/100 Compare

#39 Bowdoin College 33.1/40 23.7/30 16.8/20 4.8/10 78.4/100 Compare

#40 Boston University 33.6/40 21.3/30 16.9/20 6.4/10 78.2/100

University of California, Berkeley 34.6/40 18.6/30 16.6/20 8.4/10 78.2/100 Compare

#42 Haverford College 32.0/40 24.5/30 16.0/20 5.6/10 78.0/100 Compare

#43 Purdue University West Lafayette 34.0/40 20.2/30 17.1/20 5.7/10 77.1/100 Compare

#44 University of Miami 30.5/40 21.7/30 17.2/20 7.7/10 77.0/100 Compare

#45 Wesleyan University 30.5/40 23.8/30 16.0/20 6.5/10 76.9/100 Compare

#46 University of California, Davis 33.2/40 18.1/30 17.0/20 8.4/10 76.8/100 Compare

#47 University of California, San Diego 34.1/40 17.8/30 15.5/20 8.7/10 76.1/100 Compare

#48 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 35.9/40 15.5/30 17.1/20 7.4/10 75.8/100 Compare

#49 Bryn Mawr College 28.3/40 24.2/30 15.6/20 7.3/10 75.5/100 Compare

#50 Lehigh University 29.5/40 23.5/30 16.9/20 5.5/10 75.4/100

#51 University of Rochester 28.0/40 24.2/30 16.5/20 5.8/10 74.6/100 Compare

#52 Wake Forest University 30.8/40 23.0/30 16.1/20 4.5/10 74.5/100 Compare

#53 Georgia Institute of Technology 35.8/40 15.6/30 15.6/20 7.1/10 74.2/100 Compare

#54 Davidson College 31.4/40 22.2/30 15.7/20 4.7/10 74.0/100 Compare

#55 Colgate University 29.2/40 23.4/30 15.9/20 5.3/10 73.9/100 Compare

#56 University of Texas at Austin 33.2/40 16.5/30 17.4/20 6.6/10 73.8/100 Compare

#56 University of Virginia 35.1/40 17.7/30 16.0/20 5.0/10 73.8/100 Compare

#58 University of Florida 35.5/40 14.8/30 17.0/20 6.4/10 73.6/100 Compare

#59 Bucknell University 30.2/40 22.6/30 16.7/20 3.7/10 73.3/100 Compare

#60 Boston College 34.8/40 18.0/30 15.7/20 4.7/10 73.1/100

#61 Hamilton College 29.0/40 23.0/30 16.6/20 4.4/10 73.0/100 Compare

#61 University of Richmond 27.4/40 23.4/30 17.1/20 5.0/10 73.0/100 Compare

#63 Oberlin College 29.3/40 23.0/30 15.7/20 4.9/10 72.9/100 Compare

#64 George Washington University 29.3/40 21.0/30 16.1/20 6.4/10 72.7/100 Compare

#65 Colby College 28.9/40 22.4/30 16.1/20 5.0/10 72.4/100 Compare

#66 Bates College 28.8/40 22.6/30 16.1/20 4.7/10 72.2/100 Compare

#66 Northeastern University 30.1/40 18.7/30 17.4/20 6.0/10 72.2/100 Compare

#66 Vassar College 26.2/40 23.4/30 16.0/20 6.6/10 72.2/100 Compare

#69 Ohio State University 33.5/40 16.2/30 17.2/20 5.3/10 72.1/100 Compare

#70 Lafayette College 29.9/40 22.6/30 15.8/20 3.7/10 72.0/100

Tulane University 25.8/40 24.6/30 16.8/20 4.6/10 71.8/100 Compare

#71 University of Wisconsin-Madison 34.4/40 15.9/30 17.2/20 4.2/10 71.8/100 Compare

#73 Washington and Lee University 29.5/40 23.6/30 15.6/20 2.6/10 71.4/100 Compare

#74 Barnard College 27.5/40 20.8/30 16.1/20 6.9/10 71.3/100 Compare

#75 Grinnell College 26.1/40 23.2/30 15.2/20 6.4/10 71.0/100 Compare

#75 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus 31.4/40 18.4/30 16.5/20 4.7/10 71.0/100 Compare

#77 Mount Holyoke College 25.4/40 22.1/30 16.4/20 7.0/10 70.9/100 Compare

#78 Macalester College 27.3/40 22.1/30 15.8/20 5.6/10 70.8/100 Compare

#79 Trinity University 24.8/40 22.5/30 17.0/20 6.3/10 70.6/100 Compare

#80 Michigan State University 31.6/40 15.8/30 17.3/20 5.8/10 70.5/100

Southern Methodist University 27.1/40 20.7/30 17.1/20 5.6/10 70.4/100 Compare

#82 University of Maryland, College Park 34.0/40 13.1/30 16.7/20 6.5/10 70.3/100 Compare

#83 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 28.6/40 20.0/30 16.3/20 5.3/10 70.2/100 Compare

#84 Denison University 26.7/40 21.6/30 16.2/20 5.5/10 70.0/100 Compare

#84 Drexel University 25.7/40 20.3/30 17.0/20 6.9/10 70.0/100 Compare

#84 College of the Holy Cross 29.3/40 21.3/30 15.8/20 3.6/10 70.0/100 Compare

#87 Brandeis University 26.4/40 21.8/30 15.7/20 5.9/10 69.9/100 Compare

#87 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 29.5/40 18.8/30 15.0/20 6.6/10 69.9/100 Compare

#89 Franklin & Marshall College 27.5/40 22.3/30 15.3/20 4.4/10 69.6/100 Compare

#89 University of Washington-Seattle 27.9/40 17.6/30 16.7/20 7.4/10 69.6/100

#91 Occidental College 27.3/40 20.4/30 14.9/20 6.9/10 69.5/100 Compare

#92 Union College 28.8/40 21.6/30 15.2/20 3.7/10 69.3/100 Compare

#93 Scripps College 24.5/40 22.4/30 15.6/20 6.7/10 69.1/100 Compare

#93 Texas A&M University-College Station 30.9/40 14.6/30 17.9/20 5.8/10 69.1/100 Compare

#93 Trinity College 26.2/40 22.2/30 15.5/20 5.2/10 69.1/100 Compare

#96 University of Denver 27.3/40 19.8/30 16.3/20 5.2/10 68.6/100 Compare

#96 Kenyon College 27.3/40 22.0/30 15.7/20 3.6/10 68.6/100 Compare

#98 Bentley University 29.3/40 17.3/30 15.9/20 5.8/10 68.3/100 Compare

#99 University of California, Santa Barbara 30.0/40 14.0/30 16.5/20 7.6/10 68.1/100 Compare

#100 William & Mary 30.1/40 17.8/30 15.6/20 4.5/10 68.0/100

SEP. 26, 2017
Public Universities Do Best When It Comes to Diversity
State schools in major cities bring in a racially and socioeconomically diverse student body, according to the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education rankings.

SEP. 26, 2017
The Colleges Whose Graduates Do Best Financially
Where schools rank in the WSJ/Times Higher Education survey on graduation rates, income, debt and reputation.

JUNE 16, 2017
Stanford Stays Atop Revised College Ranking
The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings for 2016 were revised to remove student-loan repayment as a factor, resulting in a shuffling of the leaderboard

Asians Spend Twice As Much On Test Prep

Asians Spend Twice As Much On Test Prep


https://www.wsj.com/articles/lets-agree-racial-affirmative-action-failed-1509058963

 new survey commissioned by Noodle found that Asian-American families spent more than twice as much money on test prep as any other group. This explains in part why Asian-American kids do so well on the exams. It’s not surprising that they are disappointed when their higher scores don’t result in admission to elite schools.

But the counterintuitive admissions secret—based on hundreds of interviews we’ve conducted with college admissions directors, deans and presidents over 25 years—is that an additional 10 or 20 points on the SAT above the (secret) threshold doesn’t improve one’s chances of getting in. That’s because admissions officers know that standardized tests are best at measuring how hard someone prepares for the test. They are less useful at predicting whether an applicant will be an academic star in college. Consequently, admissions officers place much more weight on the rigor of academic courses and teacher recommendations to help identify the most promising students.

... disclaimer f you are a potential All-American athlete, an all-state flutist, or have a family income under $35,000, we’ll probably make allowances. But importantly, once you’ve met that threshold, we really do not care if your grades or SAT scores are higher.