GW moved up to No. 63 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of the best colleges and universities in the United States, regaining four spots after dropping five last year.
The University ranked No. 63 in the 2024-2025 ranking, an improvement from last year when its ranking fell from No. 62 to No. 67, according to the report released Tuesday. GW tied with two of its 12 peer schools — Tulane University and University of Miami — and Brandeis, Michigan State, Pennsylvania State–University Park and Santa Clara universities.
All of the University’s peer schools also ranked in the top 75, with Georgetown University clocking in with the highest ranking at No. 24, followed by University of Southern California at No. 27 and New York University at No. 30. The University of Pittsburgh ranked the lowest at No. 70, and Syracuse University ranked No. 73.
Between all 12 peer schools, GW received the ninth highest ranking position.
A University release published Tuesday states that GW’s “strong positions” and representation in the national rankings indicate the University’s “overall excellence.”
University and education leaders, including Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, have raised questions over the last few years about the authenticity of U.S. News’ rankings, citing the fact that universities pay licensing fees to the organization in order to advertise their ranking. This has led some schools like Columbia University to not directly provide their data to U.S. News.
U.S. News has denied these claims, citing that their partnerships do not coincide with the rankings and explained that shifts in ranking positions year-to-year are common, especially for middle-tier ranked universities, rather than those in the bottom or top tiers.
U.S. News formulated the 2025 rankings differently than in previous years, as they now emphasize the graduation rates and the graduation performances of students who receive Pell Grants by 2.5 percent, respectively, replacing the five percent weight in the scale that was dedicated to first-generation graduation rates and first-generation graduate performance, according to a U.S. News article explaining their rankings.
For the second year, U.S. News did not include the consideration of data like alumni donation average and graduate debt proportion borrowing after they decided last year they would not consider the information because all universities self-report this data as the Department of Education does not collect it. The scale used by U.S. News emphasizes graduation rates and peer assessment, weighing in at 16 and 20 percent, respectively. The University’s four-year graduation rate came in at 79 percent for the class of 2023, a jump from the 75.2 percent for the class of 2022.
