U.S. News & World Report, a media company that publishes rankings and consumer advice, placed Georgetown University 24th on its 2025 national rankings, dropping two spots since 2024.
Georgetown, which tied with the University of Virginia and Emory University, continues to hover just outside the “top 20” status for the “Best National University Rankings,” which is used to indicate the prestige of a university. This year, the criteria for the rankings shifted slightly, and U.S. News placed 2.5% more weight on Pell Grant graduates and their performance while simultaneously removing the weight of first-generation graduates and their performance from the list of criteria.
A university spokesperson said Georgetown prioritizes the development of the whole student over its numerical standing and is more focused on the student experience.
“Georgetown is most focused on the student experience, both inside and outside the classroom, and the formation of graduates who act as ‘people for others,’” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “Through scholarly work, our centers and institutes, and our student support and resources, we work to promote social justice and access, affordability and quality of education.”
As potential students may use the rankings to decide on their college choice, universities aim to increase in ranking to maintain prestige.
Rohin Dhaul (CAS ’28) said the rankings helped him decide where to attend school.
“I looked at everything to try to figure out which schools were the best,” Dhaul told The Hoya. “I also looked at rankings based on major, the quality of professors, all kinds of rankings.”
U.S. News publishes both overall rankings and specialized lists such as “A-Plus Schools for B Students” and program-specific rankings. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a top U.S. newspaper, and Niche, a popular education ranking and review website, also published their own rankings, placing Georgetown in vastly different spots. In this year’s lists, the WSJ ranked Georgetown 34th, while Niche placed it in the 13th position.
Ethan Kaufmann (MSB ’28) said he has observed shifts in college rankings that have led him to question their reliability, particularly in the top ranked 25 institutions.
“Recently, I’ve realized that more public universities and more research universities are climbing, specifically in the U.S. News rankings,” Kaufmann told The Hoya. “I think that U.S. News rankings aren’t as reliable.”
Dhaul said he perceives the U.S. News’ college rankings as more of a nuanced matter, emphasizing factors beyond academic merit that influence an institution’s position among elite schools.
“I think in large part, the ranking game is more just a marketing game. Looking at the ’24 number, some colleges just did better at marketing than others,” Dhaul said. “Once you reach that upper echelon like Georgetown has, there’s very little difference between them and the top schools.”
Alice Choe (CAS ’26) said the rankings highlight an opportunity for Georgetown to invest more in its students and enhance the overall experience.
“It is shocking, but at the same time it’s not,” Choe told The Hoya. “Although Georgetown is a well-known university, it has a lot of room for improvement.”
“Don’t get me wrong, we’re still getting a top-tier education, which I am grateful for. But at the same time, I feel like the school can invest more in its students, like bringing in new resources, renovating its buildings, offering more financial aid and making it a less stressful environment for students,” Choe added.
The spokesperson said the university believes Georgetown’s ranking is not a disappointment to the school and does not believe the rankings to be important.
“While we are proud to be ranked among the top 25 universities in the nation, we are most focused on the fundamentals of what makes our University strong,” the spokesperson wrote.
Dhaul said he still felt the impact of Georgetown’s drop in the rankings.
“It stung a little bit. It’s weird to see us going down in the rankings,” Dhaul said.
Song Lim contributed to reporting.