September 14, 2020
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
University of Pennsylvania ranked No. 8 among national universities on U.S. News' 2021 list of best colleges. Pictured above is the statue of Benjamin Franklin outside College Hall on Penn's campus.
University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College earned the highest rankings among local schools, for their respective categories, in the U.S. News and World Report's 2021 list of Best Colleges.
Penn ranked No. 8 among national universities in the U.S., helped by its business school school – the Wharton School was No. 1 among business programs. Penn dropped two spots from its 2019 U.S. News ranking when it was No. 6 overall. The Ivy League school placed 17th among best value schools, 26th for most innovative schools, and 39th for best undergraduate teaching.
Other Philadelphia-area schools on the national list include Lehigh University at No. 49; Villanova University at No. 53; Temple University at No. 103; and Drexel University at No. 133.
Princeton University ranked No. 1 on U.S. News' national university for the third year in a row. Elsewhere in the region Rutgers University in New Brunswick and University of Delaware ranked at No. 63 and No. 97. Also Penn State placed No. 63, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh was No. 26 and the University of Pittsburgh was No. 58.
Below is a list of how some of Pennsylvania's other colleges scored in the top national university category. Get U.S News' complete rankings for Pennsylvania here.
• No. 8 — University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
• No. 26 – Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
• No. 49 — Lehigh University, Bethlehem
• No. 53 – Villanova University, Radnor
• No. 58 – University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
• No. 63 – Pennsylvania State University, State College
• No. 103 – Temple University, Philadelphia
• No. 133 – Drexel University, Philadelphia
• No. 143 — Duquesne University, Pittsburgh
• No 176 – Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia
Among the U.S. News list of best national liberal arts colleges, Swarthmore College ranked No. 3 once again. The Delaware County college placed sixth for undergraduate teaching and fourth for best value schools.
Haverford College in Montgomery County was No. 15 liberal arts college list. It was tied Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts; Colby College in Waterville, Maine; Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina; and United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.
Here's how some of the other Pennsylvania liberal arts schools fared. See U.S News' complete Pennsylvania rankings here.
• No. 3 —Swarthmore College, Swarthmore
• No. 15 — Haverford College, Haverford
• No. 28 — Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr
• No. 34 – Bucknell College, Lewisburg
• No. 40 — Lafayette College, Easton
• No. 43 —Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster
• No. 47 — Dickinson College, Carlisle
• No. 54 – Gettysburg College, Gettysburg
• No. 72 – Muhlenberg College, Allentown
• No. 80 – Allegheny College, Meadville
• No. 84– Juniata College, Huntingdon
• No. 84 – Ursinus College, Collegeville
Among the 176 schools in the Regional Universities North category, the College of New Jersey in Ewing was No. 5; St. Joseph's University was No. 8; La Salle University was No. 26; and Stockton College in Galloway, New Jersey, was No. 34.
U.S. News & World Report ranked more than 1,400 universities and colleges in magazine's 36th edition of its Best Colleges list. The magazine examines academic quality at schools in addition to other factors, like graduation and student retention rates.
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