September 22, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
The University of Pennsylvania is No . 7 on the U.S. News & World Report's overall national 2027 ranking, which was released Tuesday.
Three local universities are in the top 100 in the U.S. News & World Report's 2027 ranking, which was released Tuesday.
The University of Pennsylvania came in as seventh on the overall national list for the second year in a row, behind only the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, California Institute of Technology and Stanford. The publication also ranks Villanova No. 42 and Drexel No. 80 — both improvements from last year's report, which had Villanova at No. 57 and Drexel at No. 84.
Villanova is tied with Northeastern University and Drexel is also tied with Clemson University, Colorado School of Mines, Pepperdine University and the University of California, Riverside.
Temple is tied for No. 109 with six other colleges, seven spots worse than it was in 2026. Among other Philly-area schools, Thomas Jefferson tied with three other universities for No. 133, Saint Joseph's tied with 10 other schools for No. 137, West Chester tied for No. 227 with eight other schools, La Salle tied with 11 schools No. 250 and Widener tied with 12 for No. 267.
The report's list of best private universities and best value, which evaluates a schools' academic quality alongside the net cost for students with need-based financial assistance to attend, also had local representation.
Top Private Colleges:.
• No. 7 Penn
• No. 29 Villanova, tied with Northeastern University
• No. 44 Drexel, tied with Pepperdine University
• No. 69 Thomas Jefferson, tied with Clark University
• No. 71 Saint Joseph's, tied with Clarkson University, St. John's University and the University of Scranton
Best Value:
• No. 14 Penn
• No. 47 Thomas Jefferson
• No. 63 Villanova
• No. 71 Temple
• No. 75 Saint Joseph's
• No. 79 Drexel
In other categories, Swarthmore College in Delaware County is the No. 3 liberal arts college in America, tied with Bowdoin College, Claremont McKenna College and Pomona College. Penn's Wharton School for business and undergraduate nursing degree are named the top programs in their respective fields.
U.S. News also introduced a new category for its annual rankings: Best value schools for in-state students, which evaluates public universities based on academic quality and regional affordability for residents. Temple is No. 97 on this list.
The media outlet, which last month listed Julia R. Masterman in Philly as the No. 3 public high school in America, adjusted its methodology for this year's ranking to "address growing public concerns regarding higher education affordability and long-term value," the organization said.
The updates include expanded eligibility requirements that allow more universities with focuses in business, engineering and health to be included in the rankings. It also replaced its graduate indebtedness factor with a new "earnings by major" metric to calculate a degree's "actual earning potential."
"With families increasingly scrutinizing the true cost and return on investment of a college degree, our goal is to provide clear, actionable data," LaMont Jones, managing editor for education, said in a statement.
The full rankings can be found here.
