Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., came out first in Washington Monthly’s ranking of U.S. universities.
Harvard University rose an impressive five spots in a survey with a different kind of mission: To rank schools based on the good they do for the country.
Washington Monthly – a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine based in Washington, D.C. that covers U.S. politics and government – has released its 2023 National University Rankings — billed as “a socially conscious alternative to the U.S. News & World Report ranking, which dozens of colleges have stopped cooperating with over the past year, many citing concerns over U.S. News’ elite-fixated metrics.”
Stanford University, which ranked No. 1 on Washington Monthly’s 2022’s list, fell to No. 2 on this year’s list. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University rounded out the top five.
The top 50 schools from Washington’s Monthly’s 2023 National University Rankings can be seen in the chart below. See the full list here.
Washington Monthly’s Top 50 2023 National Universities |
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| Rank | Name | 8-year graduation rate | Net price of attendance for families below $75,000 income | Social mobility rank | Research rank | Service rank |
| 1 | Harvard University (MA) | 98% | 1758 | 15 | 3 | 19 |
| 2 | Stanford University (CA) | 96% | 355 | 6 | 2 | 169 |
| 3 | MA Institute of Technology (MA) | 96% | -853 | 3 | 1 | 274 |
| 4 | University of Pennsylvania (PA) | 97% | 3722 | 2 | 9 | 73 |
| 5 | Princeton University (NJ) | 98% | 4618 | 5 | 5 | 138 |
| 6 | Duke University (NC) | 95% | 3068 | 23 | 15 | 8 |
| 7 | Columbia Univ. in the City of NY (NY) | 93% | 3027 | 8 | 14 | 174 |
| 8 | Yale University (CT) | 98% | 2810 | 12 | 7 | 201 |
| 9 | University of CA–Berkeley (CA)* | 93% | 10260 | 48 | 6 | 33 |
| 10 | Cornell University (NY) | 95% | 6362 | 35 | 12 | 44 |
| 11 | University of WI–Madison (WI)* | 87% | 7406 | 62 | 17 | 6 |
| 12 | University of Notre Dame (IN) | 96% | 12578 | 39 | 58 | 2 |
| 13 | Johns Hopkins University (MD) | 93% | 4751 | 70 | 8 | 27 |
| 14 | University of WA–Seattle (WA)* | 84% | 6802 | 52 | 13 | 40 |
| 15 | Georgetown University (DC) | 94% | 8233 | 11 | 101 | 35 |
| 16 | University of California–LA (CA)* | 93% | 9286 | 43 | 16 | 118 |
| 17 | University of NC–Chapel Hill (NC)* | 90% | 7273 | 58 | 21 | 13 |
| 18 | Vanderbilt University (TN) | 93% | 6462 | 47 | 30 | 17 |
| 19 | Florida International University (FL)* | 66% | 4931 | 4 | 121 | 179 |
| 20 | University of CA–San Diego (CA)* | 89% | 10698 | 29 | 10 | 295 |
| 21 | University of California–Davis (CA)* | 89% | 11273 | 25 | 26 | 197 |
| 22 | University of Florida (FL)* | 88% | 2768 | 19 | 31 | 216 |
| 23 | University of MI–Ann Arbor (MI)* | 93% | 6621 | 53 | 11 | 213 |
| 24 | Univ. of IL–Urbana-Champaign (IL)* | 86% | 8120 | 33 | 23 | 187 |
| 25 | Brigham Young University (UT) | 85% | 10651 | 1 | 122 | 391 |
| 26 | CA State University–Fresno (CA)* | 69% | 4631 | 10 | 382 | 49 |
| 27 | Washington Univ. in St. Louis (MO) | 93% | 5961 | 30 | 24 | 243 |
| 28 | Dartmouth College (NH) | 96% | 8734 | 17 | 32 | 318 |
| 29 | CA State Univ.–San Bernardino (CA)* | 70% | 4841 | 7 | 350 | 190 |
| 30 | National Louis University (IL) | 53% | 14435 | 14 | 397 | 47 |
| 31 | Northwestern University (IL) | 95% | 5481 | 44 | 20 | 276 |
| 32 | University of Chicago (IL) | 94% | 5139 | 127 | 19 | 12 |
| 33 | Arizona State University (AZ)* | 65% | 10184 | 65 | 54 | 20 |
| 34 | University of MN–Twin Cities (MN)* | 81% | 9529 | 82 | 22 | 82 |
| 35 | California Institute of Tech. (CA) | 93% | 6101 | 60 | 4 | 432 |
| 36 | University of Central Florida (FL)* | 72% | 7107 | 20 | 105 | 163 |
| 37 | VA Polytech. Inst. & State Univ. (VA)* | 85% | 14708 | 78 | 51 | 21 |
| 38 | Carnegie Mellon University (PA) | 85% | 16852 | 73 | 35 | 68 |
| 39 | Utah State University (UT)* | 54% | 11219 | 46 | 120 | 28 |
| 40 | George Washington University (DC) | 81% | 17440 | 115 | 88 | 3 |
| 41 | Boston College (MA) | 92% | 12980 | 34 | 133 | 83 |
| 42 | University of Virginia (VA)* | 94% | 11742 | 68 | 46 | 79 |
| 43 | Brown University (RI) | 96% | 6794 | 63 | 36 | 182 |
| 44 | Rutgers University–Newark (NJ)* | 72% | 11903 | 9 | 177 | 366 |
| 45 | Michigan State University (MI)* | 81% | 9644 | 51 | 47 | 183 |
| 46 | Florida Atlantic University (FL)* | 61% | 7362 | 26 | 174 | 154 |
| 47 | University of Southern CA (CA) | 93% | 16527 | 64 | 43 | 175 |
| 48 | Wake Forest University (NC) | 89% | 8337 | 57 | 89 | 50 |
| 49 | CA State University–Long Beach (CA)* | 80% | 7429 | 13 | 318 | 284 |
| 50 | Emory University (GA) | 92% | 11773 | 130 | 33 | 32 |
NEXT PAGE: A Tale of Two Rankings + Top 10 ‘Bang for the Buck’ Colleges by region
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