Top colleges in Ky. ranked by U.S. News and World Report

Students gather within several communal areas of UK’s Gatton Student Center between classes, August 21, 2023.

Marcus Dorsey

mdorsey@herald-leader.com

Several Kentucky colleges have been recognized by the U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges rankings released Monday.

The University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville received the highest rankings in the state for national universities. Several Kentucky schools were also ranked in the top 50 among regional universities in the South. Nationally, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University were again ranked the top three universities.

While rankings can be a key factor for parents and students when making a college decision, U.S. News and World Report has faced growing criticism from schools for its methodology.

In the past year, several top-ranked schools ended their participation in the rankings. A group of the country’s top law schools pulled their participation, including Yale, Harvard, Stanford and Georgetown. Harvard’s medical school also withdrew participation in the rankings earlier this year.

All cited concerns about how the rankings are created, and the potential incentives for schools to submit inaccurate data that could increase their rank.

This year, the rankings used a revamped methodology, changing several factors, adding new factors, and increasing the emphasis on students from all socioeconomic backgrounds who earned degrees, according to U.S. News and World Report. Changes in methodology can cause significant changes in a school’s rankings year-to-year.

Here’s how schools around Kentucky were ranked, compared to rankings from last year when available.

National Universities

159. University of Kentucky (137 in 2022)

195. University of Louisville (182)

280. Bellarmine University (234)

Top Public Schools

84. University of Kentucky (64 in 2022)

106. University of Louisville (91)

188. Eastern Kentucky University

195. Western Kentucky University

205. Northern Kentucky University

Regional Universities — South

24. Asbury University (14 in 2022)

31. Murray State University (23)

45. Morehead State University (41)

64. Spalding University (76)

76. Midway University (83)

79. Thomas More University (56)

93. Lindsey Wilson College (80)

102. Campbellsville University (88)

118. Union College

Students and visitors fill Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University singing with musicians on stage for the sixth consecutive day of a revival, February 14, 2023, which began when students stayed past normal chapel service on February 8 to continue nonstop prayer. The revival has garnered visitors from other parts of the country arriving in cars and busses to pray and sing in the auditorium. Marcus Dorsey mdorsey@herald-leader.com

Historically Black Colleges and Universities

32. Kentucky State University (36 in 2022)

National Liberal Arts Colleges

30. Berea College (26 in 2022)

51. Centre College (55)

121. Transylvania University (102)

Kentucky State University in Frankfort Silas Walker swalker@herald-leader.com

Regional Colleges — South

22. Kentuckian Wesleyan College (24 in 2022)

34. Alice Lloyd College (21)

34. Kentucky State University (44)

44. Brescia University (35)

72. Kentucky Christian University

Monica Kast covers higher education for the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com. Previously, she covered higher education in Tennessee for the Knoxville News Sentinel. She is originally from Louisville, Kentucky, and is a graduate of Western Kentucky University.
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