Boston College held steady at the No. 36 spot for best national university in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 rankings.
BC tied the University of Rochester for the 36th spot.
U.S. News assesses universities based on 17 measures of academic quality, including faculty resources, graduation and retention rates, financial resources per student, undergraduate academic reputation, and student selectivity, among others. The rankings this year reflect data from fall 2021 or earlier, the U.S. News website reads.
“The lagging nature of the data is why methodology changes were made this edition relating to COVID-19, even as campus operations have since returned mostly to normal,” the website reads. “This is particularly evident in our revamped treatment of standardized test data.”
While BC placed higher than some of its peer universities—Boston University ranked at No. 41 and Northeastern ranked at No. 44—it fell below Tufts University at No. 32, The University of Notre Dame at No. 18, and Georgetown University at No. 22.
To rank schools, U.S. News gives each university an overall score between zero and 100. Graduation and retention rates account for 22 percent of the total score, undergraduate academic reputation and faculty resources account for 20 percent each, and financial resources per student make up 10 percent, among other measurements.
BC was rated 75 out of 100, a one-point drop from last year. The University also ranked No. 5 in “Best Undergraduate Teaching,” No. 7 in “Service Learning,” No. 16 in “Most Innovative Schools,” and No. 361 in “Top Performers on Social Mobility.”
The Carroll School of Management also placed eighth in finance, 11th in accounting, tied for 11th in analytics, and tied for 12th in entrepreneurship.
BC also recently placed No. 35 in the 2022 Washington Monthly National University Rankings, a 27-spot increase from last year. Compared to the U.S. News rankings, the Washington Monthly places a larger emphasis on the public good, dividing their measurements into three categories: social mobility, research, and promoting public service.
Boston University ranked at No. 86 in the Washington Monthly rankings, Northeastern University ranked at No. 138, Tufts University ranked at No. 99, and Georgetown University ranked at No. 15.
“Since 2005, the Washington Monthly has ranked colleges based on what they do for the country,” Washington Monthly’s website reads. “It’s our answer to U.S News & World Report, which relies on crude and easily manipulated measures of wealth, exclusivity, and prestige.”
