NYU fell two spots in the latest university rankings from U.S. News & World Report, placing it at No. 32 out of 436 four-year institutions across the country.
Last year, NYU rose to No. 30 following a dramatic 10-spot decline in 2023 — when it dropped from No. 25 to No. 35. This year, U.S. News said it made no changes to rankings factors and weights but did note “slight calculation tweaks” in its methodology, which aimed to account for evolving admissions practices and more representation of regional universities.
NYU shares its No. 32 spot with the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of California, Davis and University of California, Irvine, all of which moved up one position this year. It was surpassed by the University of Florida and University of Texas at Austin, both of which it tied with in last year’s rankings.
Despite the slip in overall ranking, NYU showed substantial improvement in the “Best Value” category, landing at No. 50 — an increase of 18 places from last year’s spot. The value ranking weighs academic quality against factors such as cost, student aid and scholarships. The university also placed No. 9 for most competitive admissions, after seeing a small drop in its acceptance rate for the class of 2029.
NYU maintained its position as the top school for study abroad programs at foreign sites for at least the sixth consecutive year, and remained ranked as No. 5 for undergraduate business programs — a position it has held for at least a decade. Other subrankings also saw changes, including a 10-spot hike to No. 19 in “Most Innovative Schools” and a seven-spot drop to No. 69 in the “Top Performers on Social Mobility” category.
This year, 79% of the more than 1,700 ranked institutions submitted their data to U.S. News — a small step-up from last year’s 78.1%. The undergraduate university rankings have withstood consistent and ongoing criticism, and a boycott of the report spearheaded by top law schools has lost significant momentum in recent years.
While The New School maintained its position, other New York institutions, such as Cornell University and Fordham University fell in their rankings. U.S. News said it is reviewing Columbia University’s No. 15 placement and inclusion in the list due to “past submission of false data.”
Earlier this year, NYU’s School of Law ranked No. 8 out of 195 law schools nationwide, and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service ranked No. 1 in urban policy out of 268 graduate schools nationwide. The NYU Grossman School of Medicine remains unranked in the U.S. News’ Best Medical Schools list.
Contact Leena Ahmed at [email protected].
