EAST LANSING — Michigan State University dropped three spots from the previous year in a national college rankings list, according to a national magazine that grades higher education institutions.
U.S. News & World Report issued its 2025 Best Colleges rankings this week for schools that offer a full range of undergraduate majors, graduate degrees and doctoral programs.
The report’s top three schools for 2025 are Ivy League institutions Princeton (1) and Harvard (3), as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2). Stanford and Yale, also from the Ivy League, rounded out the top five.
MSU placed No. 63, and tied with seven other schools: Brandeis University in Massachusetts, George Washington University in Washington, D.C., The Pennsylvania State University – University Park, Santa Clara University in California, Tulane University in Louisiana and University of Miami (Florida).
U.S. News & World Reports takes into consideration the number of degrees students obtain from each school, their workforce participation and starting salaries, and other student preferences, like the clubs and activities, offered on campus.
How Michigan’s other colleges ranked
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, No. 21 (tie)
- Michigan Technological University, Houghton, No. 148 (tie)
- Wayne State University, Detroit, No. 179 (tie)
- University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, No. 189 (tie)
- Grand Valley State University, Allendale, No. 244 (tie)
- Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, No. 259 (tie)
- Andrews University, Berrien Springs, No. 273 (tie)
- Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, No. 288 (tie)
- Oakland University, Rochester, No. 315 (tie)
- Ferris State University, Big Rapids, No. 329 (tie)
- Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, No. 377 (tie)
- University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, No. 392-434
How MSU placed in other rankings
U.S. News & World Report isn’t the only site that ranks colleges and universities. Forbes and Washington Monthly released their rankings earlier this month, and MSU placed in the middle of the pack for both. Forbes placed MSU at No. 91, and Washington Monthly placed the school at No. 43.
Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com, or follow her on X @sarahmatwood.