Penn State Rises in U.S. News & World Report ‘Best Colleges’ Ranking

Penn State climbed into the top 25 for public schools in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” for 2027 released on Tuesday, but remained much lower on the list for “Best Value Schools.”

The university is No. 22 among public colleges, up from No. 26 a year ago, and No. 55 among national universities, rising from No. 59 last year. A total of 422 national universities are ranked by the publication.

“Penn State’s continued recognition among the nation’s and world’s leading universities — including in rankings such as U.S. News & World Report — reflects the exceptional quality of our academic programs and the accomplishments of our students, faculty and staff,” Fotis Sotiropoulos, Penn State executive vice president and provost, said in a statement. “Guided by our commitment to academic and research excellence, and student success, we are building on these strengths to further elevate Penn State’s standing among America’s leading universities.”

The top-ranked public university in Pennsylvania and fifth overall in the commonwealth, Penn State is tied with Purdue for 11th among Big Ten schools.

Penn State did not fare as well on the list of Best Value Schools, rating 199th in the nation and 11th among ranked national universities in Pennsylvania.

U.S. News calculates the “Best Value” ranking using academic quality and and the 2025-2026 net cost of attendance for a U.S. resident out-of-state student who received the average level of need-based scholarship or grant aid.

“The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal,” according to the publication. “Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically.”

Penn State ranked No. 106 nationally in the new “Best Value for In-State Students.” Penn State and Temple (No. 97) were the only in-state schools ranked in the category.

“This ranking takes into account a school’s academic quality, as indicated by its 2027 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking, and its 2025-2026 cost of attendance for in-state students – including food, housing, and need-based scholarship and grant aid when applicable,” according to the publication.

For undergraduate program-specific rankings, Penn State has 15 top-25 ratings, with three in the top 10,

The university ranked No. 22 out of 216 schools in “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs,” with top-25 specialty rankings including petroleum (4); biological/agricultural (10); materials (11); industrial/manufacturing (11); mechanical (12); civil (13); aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical (14); environmental/environmental health (22); computer (21); and electrical/electronic/communications (23).

Penn State is No. 24 out of 535 programs in “Best Undergraduate Business Programs.” with supply chain management/logistics (7) and production/operations management (13) rated in the top 15.

Other Penn State rankings include:

• No. 34 out of 587 for “Best Undergraduate Computer Science Programs,”
• No. 43 out of 237 for “Best Undergraduate Economics Programs,”
• No. 50 out of 676 for “Best Undergraduate Psychology Programs,”
• No. 56 out of 671 for “Best Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs.”
• No. 31 out of 169 for “Best Colleges for Veterans,”

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the No. 1 national university in the 2027 rankings, supplanting Princeton, which had held the top spot for 15 years.

University of California-Berkeley and Penn State’s Big Ten colleague UCLA tied for No. 1 public school.