BYU is ranked 74th in U.S. News & World Report‘s annual survey, “America’s Best Colleges,” and the Marriott School of Management’s undergraduate program came in at 38th in “best business programs.”
The magazine ranks about 1,400 four-year accredited colleges and universities by mission and region. BYU falls into the category of “national universities,” which includes schools that offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and doctoral degrees. Graduate programs, including top law and MBA schools, will be ranked in a future issue of the magazine.
BYU’s high scores in the areas of freshman retention rate and graduation rate, as well as its improvement in a category measuring class sizes, contributed to the overall ranking.
The university is also listed 25th under the “great schools, great prices” category, which considers the academic strength of a school compared to its average cost per student. Also on the financial front, BYU ranked ninth in the country in a category called “least debt,” which compares the average debt carried by departing graduates.
In addition to its top 50 overall ranking, the Marriott School was ranked sixth in the nation for its accounting specialty.
BYU’s Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology’s undergraduate engineering program ranked 82nd.
Harvard and Princeton tied for first overall for the second year in a row, followed by Yale and the University of Pennsylvania.