NC State Shines in U.S. News Rankings

September 25, 2024 Staff

A view of Centennial campus at dawn, with the sunlight reflecting on windows in the Hunt Library.

For the third year in a row, NC State climbed to new heights in a national ranking of colleges and universities from U.S. News & World Report. The university ranked 58th overall among national universities, rising two spots over last year and 26 spots since 2020. Among public universities, NC State rose two spots to 26th overall — the university’s highest ranking ever.

The Best Colleges list, published annually by U.S. News, ranks nearly 1,500 of the nation’s four-year bachelor’s degree-granting institutions on a set of 17 weighted indicators, using data collected from more than 1,800 institutions. NC State has made major strides up the list over the past several years, jumping 34 spots since 2017 to achieve its current position as the 58th best-ranked university nationally.

“This year’s Best Colleges list demonstrates what we already know: that NC State is among the best of the best,” said Chancellor Randy Woodson. “We continue to be recognized for our excellence in teaching, research and scholarship because of you — our incredible students, faculty and staff — and all you bring to this place each and every day.”

Beyond this strong overall showing among national and public universities, NC State distinguished itself in additional Best Colleges rankings from U.S. News.

NC State continued to be recognized as one of the best universities in the nation for veterans, rising two spots over last year for its highest finish in a decade at 34th overall. It achieved the 60th overall ranking for best value among national universities, and its undergraduate business program earned the 65th overall ranking, gaining five spots from last year. On the list of top performing universities for social mobility, NC State soared 25 spots to rank 153rd overall.

Three researchers hold a conversation while leaning over a table on which sit two green plants growing in small planters. They wear white lab coats and are standing in an indoor laboratory.

A portrait style shot of a student holding a sharp-bladed research tool and using it to work with a flat object held in her other hand.

An upward looking shot of the Belltower with a partly cloudy blue sky behind it, and red and white flowers blooming in front of it in the foreground. Green-leafed trees also feature prominently in the middle ground near the Belltower.

U.S. News significantly altered its Best Colleges methodology last year, removing five indicators that had previously constituted 18% of an institution’s score and adding seven new indicators to reflect outcomes such as faculty research citations and graduation rates for first-generation students.

The most significant change to the methodology for 2025 was the removal of first-generation students’ six-year graduation rates from the formulas for ranking national universities and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This change was made, according to U.S. News, based on stakeholder input that the data should be more standardized for comparative use.

Other notable 2025 Best Colleges rankings for NC State included:

30th overall for undergraduate engineering among institutions offering doctoral degrees in engineering
50th overall for undergraduate computer science
94th overall for undergraduate psychology
102nd overall for undergraduate economics

Chancellor Randy Woodson and three-time NC State alum and NASA astronaut Christina Koch stand on a stage backlit by stars. Koch holds an NC State flag up to view for an unseen crowd of NC State supporters.

A view of the Gaming and Esports Lab at the Hunt Library, with students gaming at various stations, dimmed ambient lighting and neon blue and orange lighting illuminating the scene.

A shot of a researcher's face from the other side of a contraption that the researcher is looking into while also reaching in to manipulate something in the device.

NC State’s continued rise in the 2025 Best Colleges rankings reflects the university’s strong commitments to academic value, educational quality, and student and faculty success.

A Wolfpack on the Rise

This post was originally published in NC State News.