2026 USNWR Top 30 Private Universities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly think the reason they don’t list private schools separately is that they fear most if not all would rapidly become peripheral to the college conversation, much as SLACs are today.

It is the public’s that would become peripheral.

[Anonymous]

Schools like UC Merced is ranked #57.
It's a school that pretty much anyone can walk in with more than 90% acceptance rate. Nonsense. Something fishy about USNWR favoring the UC schools.

[Anonymous]

Schools like BC, BU, NEU, and Tufts(lesser extent) are not on any top 25 lists. Those schools exist for kids that want to go to cold Boston for 4 years but couldn’t get into top schools. Average at best they have low acceptance rates for lots of mediocre students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the point of this? Is it just so the following can move up the list?

23 - USC
24 - NYU
25 - BC, Tufts
27 - BU
28 - Lehigh, Northeastern, URochester

How about we separate the <25K student schools from the >25K schools? I can come up with lots of ways to split it to make things look teh way I would like.

NP and personal opinion, but as a single parent with a good (not fantastic) income we're likely not qualifying for significant financial aid from OOS publics but probably will from some of the privates. UVA isn't a guarantee here. Michigan, Berkeley would likely be full pay at 88k or so - so it's nice to a filtered look like this for perspective. There are plenty of factors in applications, though, and this is just one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools like BC, BU, NEU, and Tufts(lesser extent) are not on any top 25 lists. Those schools exist for kids that want to go to cold Boston for 4 years but couldn’t get into top schools. Average at best they have low acceptance rates for lots of mediocre students.

Sure, just have your above average (not even mediocre) student apply to any of those schools — and get rejected. UC Davis or Irvine, on the other hand, will welcome even your mediocre oos student with open arms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1 - Princeton
2 - MIT
3 - Harvard
4 - Stanford, Yale
6 - UChicago
7 - Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UPenn
11 - Caltech
12 - Cornell
13 - Brown, Dartmouth
15 - Columbia
16 - Rice, Vanderbilt
18 - Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame, WUSTL
21 - Emory, Georgetown
23 - USC
24 - NYU
25 - BC, Tufts
27 - BU
28 - Lehigh, Northeastern, URochester

Privates better be ranked separately from Publics like LACs.

Hey, idiot. The service academies are publics schools, as is St. Mary’s in Md. that’s just off the top of my head. If you are going to go through this useless thought exercise, at least get your facts straight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools like BC, BU, NEU, and Tufts(lesser extent) are not on any top 25 lists. Those schools exist for kids that want to go to cold Boston for 4 years but couldn’t get into top schools. Average at best they have low acceptance rates for lots of mediocre students.

You sound you're a lot of fun to be around

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools like BC, BU, NEU, and Tufts(lesser extent) are not on any top 25 lists. Those schools exist for kids that want to go to cold Boston for 4 years but couldn’t get into top schools. Average at best they have low acceptance rates for lots of mediocre students.

Aww, look who got a google alert to come barging in to disparage schools because Boston’s cold and these schools have roots in educating the “poor”. Foul and juvenile language, deleted posts and eventually a locked thread sure to come. It’s what this pp lives for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools like BC, BU, NEU, and Tufts(lesser extent) are not on any top 25 lists. Those schools exist for kids that want to go to cold Boston for 4 years but couldn’t get into top schools. Average at best they have low acceptance rates for lots of mediocre students.

Love that the underlying premise for this statement is that if you cannot matriculate at a top 25 national university (specifically Harvard and MIT here) you are mediocre. KNOW YOUR PLACE!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the point of this? Is it just so the following can move up the list?

23 - USC
24 - NYU
25 - BC, Tufts
27 - BU
28 - Lehigh, Northeastern, URochester

How about we separate the <25K student schools from the >25K schools? I can come up with lots of ways to split it to make things look teh way I would like.

NP and personal opinion, but as a single parent with a good (not fantastic) income we're likely not qualifying for significant financial aid from OOS publics but probably will from some of the privates. UVA isn't a guarantee here. Michigan, Berkeley would likely be full pay at 88k or so - so it's nice to a filtered look like this for perspective. There are plenty of factors in applications, though, and this is just one.

Those 3 schools being omitted from the list make no difference in the ability to understand the options. OP is just trying to make some school that is lower than publics look more desirable. OK. If that's important to them......

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the point of this? Is it just so the following can move up the list?

23 - USC
24 - NYU
25 - BC, Tufts
27 - BU
28 - Lehigh, Northeastern, URochester

How about we separate the <25K student schools from the >25K schools? I can come up with lots of ways to split it to make things look teh way I would like.

NP and personal opinion, but as a single parent with a good (not fantastic) income we're likely not qualifying for significant financial aid from OOS publics but probably will from some of the privates. UVA isn't a guarantee here. Michigan, Berkeley would likely be full pay at 88k or so - so it's nice to a filtered look like this for perspective. There are plenty of factors in applications, though, and this is just one.

Those 3 schools being omitted from the list make no difference in the ability to understand the options. OP is just trying to make some school that is lower than publics look more desirable. OK. If that's important to them......

In fact, they are in general more desirable than publics by data.
That's in fact the problem with the ranking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the point of this? Is it just so the following can move up the list?

23 - USC
24 - NYU
25 - BC, Tufts
27 - BU
28 - Lehigh, Northeastern, URochester

How about we separate the <25K student schools from the >25K schools? I can come up with lots of ways to split it to make things look teh way I would like.

NP and personal opinion, but as a single parent with a good (not fantastic) income we're likely not qualifying for significant financial aid from OOS publics but probably will from some of the privates. UVA isn't a guarantee here. Michigan, Berkeley would likely be full pay at 88k or so - so it's nice to a filtered look like this for perspective. There are plenty of factors in applications, though, and this is just one.

Those 3 schools being omitted from the list make no difference in the ability to understand the options. OP is just trying to make some school that is lower than publics look more desirable. OK. If that's important to them......

I used those 3 as examples assuming one would reasonably extend the observation across all top publics, regardless of region and state. To many people some of those listed below top state schools are, in fact, more desirable. For any number of reasons. From financial - as I first mentioned - to size, location, program, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly think the reason they don’t list private schools separately is that they fear most if not all would rapidly become peripheral to the college conversation, much as SLACs are today.

What? You mean the publics would right? People dont pay attention to the public list as it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A large private school is no different as a practical matter from a top state flagship.

Compare class sizes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A large private school is no different as a practical matter from a top state flagship.

Compare class sizes

Compare alumni network and research opportunities.