These universities in Pennsylvania, NJ and Delaware rank among top 100 in US: report

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Published September 22, 2026 1:14 PM EDT

The Brief

    • Over a dozen universities across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware secured spots in the top 100 of the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.
    • MIT claimed the No. 1 national spot, ending Princeton's 15-year reign.
    • The rankings assess more than 1,700 institutions using up to 17 metrics of academic quality and graduate outcomes.

PENNSYLVANIA - If you're looking for world-class higher education in the Philadelphia area, you don't have to travel far!

Some of the top-ranking universities across the country are sitting right in our backyard in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

What we know:

More than a dozen universities across all three states have claimed spots in the top 100 of the U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 Best Colleges rankings.

While the University of Pennsylvania maintained its 7th place ranking, Princeton lost its 15-year crown as the nation's No. 1 university to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Here's how schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware ranked among the list's Top 100 universities:

Pennsylvania

  • No. 7: University of Pennsylvania
  • No. 14: Carnegie Mellon University
  • No. 42: Villanova University
  • No. 44: Lehigh University
  • No. 55: The Pennsylvania State University — University Park
  • No. 59: University of Pittsburgh
  • No. 80: Drexel University

New Jersey

  • No. 2: Princeton University
  • No. 44 Rutgers University — New Brunswick
  • No. 59: Stevens Institute of Technology
  • No. 73: Rutgers University — Newark
  • No. 85: New Jersey Institute of Technology
  • No. 95: Rutgers University — Camden

Delaware

  • No. 85: University of Delaware

These are the top colleges, universities in the 2027 U.S. News rankings

A new college ranking evaluates nearly 1,700 institutions across the country based on academic quality, student outcomes, faculty resources and other factors.

How the list is calculated

Dig deeper:

The 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings evaluate more than 1,700 colleges and universities using up to 17 distinct measures of academic quality and graduate success. To ensure fair comparisons, institutions are first divided into 10 distinct categories based on their academic missions and research focus.

While U.S. News relies heavily on detailed statistical surveys submitted directly by the schools, participation is not strictly required to be ranked. For non-responders, researchers cross-referenced school-reported figures with external federal and third-party databases, including the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard and Elsevier's global analytics.

Each school is scored on a 0 to 100 scale within its specific category, with the top-performing institution setting the benchmark at 100. 

The Source: Information from this article was sourced from the U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 Best Colleges rankings.

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