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A new No. 1 in college rankings
If college rankings ever make you stop scrolling, this year’s list has a big change. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, better known as MIT, now sits first in the 2027 national rankings.
The Cambridge school moved ahead of Princeton University in U.S. News’ 2027 National Universities rankings. That puts a Massachusetts school at the top of lists families use when comparing colleges.
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MIT moves into the top spot
MIT took No. 1, while Princeton moved to No. 2. Harvard ranked No. 3, Yale No. 4, and Caltech and Stanford tied at No. 5 in this year’s national list.
The rankings were released Sept. 22, 2026. This year, MIT moved into first place on the National Universities list, while Princeton had held the top position for 15 straight years.
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Why the ranking changed this year
U.S. News changed part of its ranking formula for the 2027 edition. One new measure looks at graduates’ earnings by major four years after graduation, adding another outcomes measure overall…