ASU extends nation-leading innovation streak to 12 years as Arizona schools see rankings shift
Arizona State University and the University of Arizona tied with 10 other schools at No. 121 in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.
At the same time, ASU stretched its nation-leading streak as the most innovative school to a 12th-straight year, meaning it’s stayed on top for as long as the ranking has existed. This year, it shared the top five innovation honors with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University. U of A appeared at No. 50 on the innovation list.
For ASU, based in Tempe, the overall ranking at No. 121 was a four-spot drop from last year’s placement in the magazine’s annual assessment of undergraduate institutions, but Tucson-based U of A this year jumped six spots up from last year. In the ranking of only public schools, U of A and ASU were in a seven-way tie for No. 58.
Additionally, U of A and ASU ranked Nos. 53 and 54, respectively, in a list of Best Value Schools for In-State Students.
Northern Arizona University came in at No. 276 this year, which was a sharp drop – 34 spots lower – from last year’s rank for the Flagstaff-based university. Among public universities, NAU ranked No. 148.
Other highlighted undergraduate program-level rankings for Arizona schools include:
- Teaching: ASU No. 25
- Business: ASU No. 31; U of A No. 33
- Economics: U of A No. 62; ASU No. 72
- Computer Science: ASU No. 52; U of A No. 57
- Engineering: ASU No. 32; U of A No. 57
- Nursing: ASU No. 36; U of A No. 36
- Psychology: U of A No. 37; ASU No. 63
In the business program category, Arizona’s top performances were the following:
- Accounting: ASU No. 14; U of A No. 37
- Analytics: ASU No. 8
- Entrepreneurship: ASU No. 26; U of A No. 39
- Finance: ASU No. 37
- International Business: ASU No. 26
- Management: ASU No. 13; U of A No. 39
- Management Information Systems: U of A No. 2; ASU No. 10
- Marketing: ASU No. 26
- Production/Operations Management: ASU No. 12
- Supply Chain Management: ASU No. 1
Arizona’s Embry-Riddle scores well among small schools
The overall national list is topped by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University and Harvard University, followed by California Institute of Technology and Stanford University tied at No. 5. MIT displaced Princeton after a 15-year run as the top national university in the nation.
While Arizona’s three public universities appeared on the overall list of national colleges, U.S. News also included a ranking for regional colleges, or smaller schools that typically draw from the surrounding region and don’t offer many graduate programs.
In the West region, Prescott-based Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University found itself in second place, just behind Minerva University in California. Next was Arizona College of Nursing – Tempe at No. 16, followed by No. 26 University of Advancing Technology and No. 31 Arizona Christian University,
This is the 42nd edition of U.S. News’ universities list, which ranks U.S. schools with regional accreditation and designated as bachelor’s degree-granting institutions.
U.S. News considered a host of factors, evaluating schools on up to 17 weighted measures of academic quality and success. The methodology, the publication said, heavily emphasizes student outcomes such as graduation and retention rates, social mobility, post-graduate earnings and others.
According to U.S. News, the 2027 edition introduces significant methodology changes designed to address growing public concerns regarding higher education affordability and long-term value. A new “earnings by major” metric was introduced this year in order to evaluate return on investment for graduates.