See where Northeast Ohio's colleges rank on the latest U.S. News & World Report list

Craig Webb, Akron Beacon Journal
Updated ·3 min read
Kent State University ranked highest among Northeast Ohio colleges on the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking.
Kent State University ranked highest among Northeast Ohio colleges on the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking.

This time of year it's all about the rankings for colleges and universities.

We tend to spend a lot of time − especially Ohio State Buckeyes fans − worrying about the ranking on the football field.

But there's another ranking that comes out in the fall that parents and college administrators also pay attention to.

U.S. News & World Report has released its 2024 rankings of the best colleges and universities − big and small − across the country.

The news organization crunches numbers and data to determine its annual rankings. The evaluation includes statistics on admissions, financial aid and student demographics, with a bigger emphasis this go around on student retention.

Princeton came out on top among national universities, followed by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Harvard and Stanford were tied for third.

Williams College in Massachusetts was the top-ranked liberal arts college.

Ohio State was the top-ranked national university in the state, coming in at 43 on the list.

Controversy around ranking process

College rankings claim to know which schools are best, but U.S. News and World Report's annual assessment of schools has been the target of backlash over the last few years.

Critics say the rankings, which began in 1983 and have long been considered the gold standard, are biased toward selective private universities, are too easily manipulated by the schools themselves and fail to capture the breadth of a school's offerings.

In fact, a number of universities last fall, mostly prestigious law and medical schools like Yale and Harvard, announced they will refuse to participate. Columbia University, one of the few undergraduate schools to abstain, said in June that concern about the ranking's “outsized influence” in the undergraduate admissions process was a major factor in their decision.

None of Ohio's colleges and universities announced they would step out of the rankings.

U.S. News and World Report adjusted its methodology for ranking schools this year, increasing the weight of a schools' success in graduating students from different backgrounds, and eliminating factors like alumni giving, faculty with terminal degree, class size and high school standing.

How did Northeast Ohio colleges do in ranking?

Here's how Northeast Ohio colleges fared in the national rankings:

  • Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, 53.

  • Kent State University, 227.

  • Cleveland State University, 320.

  • Walsh University in North Canton, 352

  • The University of Akron, 361.

The College of Wooster was ranked 75th among liberal arts colleges in the country.

U.S. News & World Report also ranked regional universities in the Midwest:

  • John Carroll University in University Heights was ranked No. 3 in the Midwest.

  • Baldwin Wallace in Berea, six.

  • Hiram College, 10.

  • The University of Mount Union in Alliance, 32.

  • Ashland University, 35.

  • Notre Dame College in Cleveland, 56.

  • Malone College in Canton, 95.

How did Ohio schools overall rank according to U.S. News and World Report?

Here's how other Ohio colleges and universities ranked this year:

Reporter Sheridan Hendrix from the Columbus Dispatch contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How did Northeast Ohio's colleges rank on U.S. News & World Report