Boston College ranked 39th among best national universities

Boston College placed 39th in the 2024 survey of national universities released today by U.S. News & World Report.

In a year marked by high volatility and significant shifts among the 435 ranked schools, BC’s overall qualitative score improved by four points, but the University continued to be negatively affected by the 2019 change in U.S. News’ methodology that rewards state universities with a high volume of Pell Grant-eligible students. That change, which received an increased weight as part of this year's methodology, resulted in 37 of the top 100-ranked private universities falling in the 2024 rankings, while 43 public universities improved.

Boston College placed highly in several specialty rankings among national universities this year, including “Service Learning (5th) “Commitment to Undergraduate Teaching” (8th); “First Year Experience” (8th); “Best Learning Communities” (17th); “Undergraduate Research” (41st); and “Most Innovative Schools” (46th). The University also placed 51st in the “Best Value Colleges” listing, reflecting its commitment to need-blind admission and meeting the full-demonstrated need of all accepted students.

In addition, the Connell School of Nursing placed 10th out of 654 schools in the Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs survey—its highest placement to date—based on a strong peer assessment score.

The Carrol School of Management ranked 29th out of 552 schools in the “Best Undergraduate Business Programs,” and placed seventh overall in Finance; 10th in Accounting, Analytics, and Entrepreneurship; 11th in Marketing; and 12th in Management.

The University also placed 37th in new rankings for the Best Undergraduate Economics programs, and 51st in Best Undergraduate Psychology.

Overall, Princeton University ranked first among national universities, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with Harvard and Stanford tied for third. Yale closed out the top five, placing fifth.

Among Massachusetts universities, BC placed third behind MIT and Harvard, and ahead of Tufts (40th), Boston University (43rd), Northeastern (53rd) and Brandeis (60th).

Access rankings of all colleges and universities at the U.S. News website.