New: 2026 City Journal College Rankings 

We evaluate which schools are deserving of Americans’ time, money, and trust

NEW YORK, NY – America’s colleges and universities aren't delivering the education that students and the country need. For City Journal’s 2026 College Rankings, we scored 115 of the country’s most prominent schools on 95 variables measuring campus governance, educational experience, student life, and career outcomes. On our 100-point scale, not one of these 115 schools scored above 80. Only seven earned a 70 or higher. Eighty-seven received scores below 60. The average score of an American school of higher education this year was an abysmal 50/100.

While this assessment might sound harsh, it reinforces what many Americans are already thinking: Is college worth it? Other prestige-focused rankings offer little insight into the content of the education students will receive, the classroom and campus environment they will inhabit, or the values that will surround them. City Journal's College Rankings, by contrast, judge schools by present performance, not past prestige.

Combining data from government sources, other ratings systems, and our own original research, our rankings provide a quantitative and holistic assessment of America’s colleges and universities. We give substantial weight to the career and formative effects of attending a given campus. For this reason, Harvard, Princeton, or Yale aren’t at the top—but rather, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Florida, and the University of Notre Dame.

The rankings have two goals: to help students and families make informed choices and to encourage schools to pursue reforms that strengthen their educational missions. American higher education is in desperate need of renewal, and City Journal’s College Rankings provide a roadmap for improvement.  

Click here for the complete rankings and detailed methodology.