Cornell tied for 16th best university in the world and ranked 12th best in the country, according to this year’s U.S. News & World Report’s rankings, published Tuesday morning. The University rose in global rankings and dropped in national rankings since last year’s assessment.
Global ranking
At No. 16 out of 2,250 universities around the world, Cornell tied with Princeton University, the University of California San Francisco and the University of Toronto. Cornell rose by three places since the 2024-2025 global rankings, overtaking the University of Michigan at No. 21 which Cornell tied with last year.
Columbia ranked 11th globally this year, beating Cornell as the top-globally-ranked university in New York State. In a Monday statement, U.S. News & World Report acknowledged Columbia’s falsely reported information in previous years, and wrote that it will continue to “evaluate Columbia’s inclusion in this year’s edition of the rankings and in future editions.”
National ranking
Nationally, at No. 12 out of over 400 U.S. universities, Cornell dropped by one place from its spot at No. 11 in the country last year.
The University outranked three of eight Ivy League colleges in this year’s national rankings, including Brown and Dartmouth which both currently share the No. 13 spot, as well as Columbia at No. 15.
In U.S. News & World Report’s more niche national rankings, Cornell earned No. 23 in best value schools, tied with Indiana University Bloomington for No. 8 in undergraduate business programs, tied with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for No. 7 in undergraduate computer science programs, tied with Johns Hopkins University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for No. 8 in undergraduate psychology programs and dropped to No. 2 from its first-ranked spot last year in best colleges for veterans.
Behind the rankings
Using up to 17 indicators, including the universities’ global research reputations, regional research reputations and number of publications that are among the 10 percent most cited, U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities Rankings list ranks 2,250 of the top universities in the world.
The U.S. News & World Report’s Best National Universities Rankings list ranks over 400 U.S. universities according to factors such as graduation rates, peer assessment, faculty resources and more.
Varsha Bhargava is a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a news editor for the 143rd Editorial Board and can be reached at vbhargava@cornellsun.com.
