For the third consecutive year, the U.S. News and World Report (USNWR) has ranked Emory No. 21 among national universities in its “Best Colleges” ranking. Emory’s ranking dropped from No. 20 to No. 21 in 2017 and has remained steady since then. Overall, Emory received a score of 79/100.
“While this ranking affirms Emory’s standing among the nation’s most eminent research universities, we remain as committed as ever to our important work of advancing an academic environment focused on innovation, discovery and learning of the very highest order of excellence,” Dwight A. McBride, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, wrote in a Sept. 9 University press release.
Based on 15 categories of academic quality, the USNWR list is meant to inform prospective students and their families of the higher education options available, according to the USNWR website. The measures of academic quality include class size, undergraduate academic reputation and more, with a large emphasis on colleges’ ability to retain and graduate its students.
In the “Best Undergraduate Teaching” category, Emory tied for the No. 40 spot with eight other universities, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Georgia, Northeastern University (Mass.) and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Emory also ranked No. 42 for “Most Innovative Schools,” tying nine other colleges, and No. 50 for “Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects,” alongside eight other institutions.
The Goizueta Business School’s ranking, which is configured separately from the University’s main undergraduate program, has remained steady at No. 15 in the undergraduate business rankings. The ranking is based on a survey of deans and senior faculty at peer institutions, according to an email sent by Emory’s Director of Media Relations Elaine Justice.
This is the second year that the “Best Colleges” rankings has included social mobility in its measures of academic quality. Social mobility was added last year to replace school acceptance rates in the USNWR methodology. The social mobility metric examines graduation rates for students who receive federal Pell Grants, according to the USNWR website.
Emory’s ranking for the “Best Value Schools” category, based on the average level of need-based financial aid and academic quality, has dropped to No. 21 from No. 19 for national universities. The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education Rankings (WSJ/THE), released Sept. 4, placed Emory at No. 22, a drop from last year’s No. 20 ranking. The ranking uses “a balanced scorecard approach, with 15 individual performance indicators combining to create an overall score that reflects the broad strength of the institution,” according to the WSJ/THE website.
