Princeton University has lost its 15-year hold on the No. 1 spot in the U.S. News & World Report college rankings, replaced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. The shift reflects changes in U.S. News's methodology, particularly the addition of faculty research metrics, which narrowed the gap between top schools. Eric Brooks, U.S. News's director of education data analysis, noted Princeton's underlying data remained stable, but competitors closed the distance.

MIT acknowledged the ranking by emphasizing its role in a national network of excellent institutions, while Princeton declined to comment. President Christopher L. Eisgruber previously criticized the rankings as a "slightly daft obsession." Harvard and Yale held at No. 3 and 4, with Caltech and Stanford tied for fifth.

Private schools occupied the top 19 spots before UC Berkeley and UCLA tied as top public universities. Williams College remained the top liberal arts college, and Spelman College led among historically Black institutions. Despite declining influence among students and criticism from administrators, U.S. News continues to profit from licensing its rankings, which draw over 100 million annual website visitors.

The publisher expanded its rankings this year to include undergraduate economics and in-state value categories, attributing growth to Carnegie Classification changes.