US News releases Best Colleges rankings for 2024. How do NC universities stack up?

Korie Dean
·3 min read

After what the publication has billed as “the most significant methodological change” in its history, U.S. News & World Report on Monday released its annual “Best Colleges” rankings — giving several North Carolina colleges reason to celebrate.

Duke University was named the No. 7 best university nationwide, in a tie with the California Institute of Technology, making it also the highest ranked university in the state. It’s Duke’s highest rating since 2014, the university’s student newspaper, The Chronicle, reported, and marks an improvement of three spots from a year ago.

UNC-Chapel Hill moved up seven spots in the nationwide rankings to No. 22, in a tie with Georgetown University. The university also moved up in U.S. News’ ranking of public universities, coming in at No. 4 — up one spot from a tie for No. 5 last year.

U.S. News describes itself as “the global authority in education rankings,” but its rankings come with controversy. Critics have pointed to the factors and criteria used to calculate the rankings, including a “peer assessment,” or “a measure of how a school is regarded by top administrators at other institutions,” which makes up 20% of a school’s score.

Dozens of law and medical schools, including those at Duke, announced over the past year that they would no longer participate in the rankings of those schools, with leaders generally citing U.S. News’ algorithm as a key reason for doing so.

“The rankings rely on flawed survey techniques and opaque and arbitrary formulas, lacking the transparency needed to help applicants make truly informed decisions,” Duke law dean Kerry Abrams said in an announcement last November.

Still, U.S. News maintains that its rankings are a “vital resource” for students as they consider which colleges to apply to or attend, Eric Gertler, executive chairman and CEO of U.S. News, said in a news release.

This year, the ranking eliminated five factors from its algorithm, instead placing “a greater emphasis on social mobility and outcomes for graduating college students.” Over half of a university’s ranking is now comprised of factors “related to success in enrolling and graduating students from all backgrounds with manageable debt and post-graduate success.”

The 2024 national rankings include more than 430 public and private colleges and universities, with 16 of those in North Carolina.

Curious about how North Carolina colleges stacked up in the 2024 report? Here’s a look at the overall rankings, plus rankings for value and public university-specific rankings where applicable.

Note: Not all North Carolina colleges and universities were included in the U.S. News national rankings. The information below reflects only the North Carolina schools ranked by the group in its national university rankings. To see rankings for additional colleges in North Carolina, visit usnews.com/best-colleges/nc.

Duke University

  • Ranked No. 7 nationally

  • Ranked No. 17 for best value

UNC-Chapel Hill

  • Ranked No. 22 nationally

  • Ranked No. 4 for public universities

  • Ranked No. 14 for best value (highest rank for a public university)

Wake Forest University

  • Ranked No. 47 nationally

  • Ranked No. 64 for best value

Wake Forest experienced one of the largest declines in this year’s nationwide ranking, falling 18 spots, The New York Times reported.

NC State University

  • Ranked No. 60 nationally

  • Ranked No. 28 for public universities

  • Ranked No. 53 for best value

Elon University

  • Ranked No. 133 nationally

  • Ranked No. 145 for best value

UNC Charlotte

  • Ranked No. 178 nationally

  • Ranked No. 96 for public universities

  • Ranked No. 164 for best value

East Carolina University

  • Ranked No. 195 nationally

  • Ranked No. 106 for public universities

  • Ranked No. 73 for best value

UNC Wilmington

  • Ranked No. 201 nationally

  • Ranked No. 109 for public universities

  • Ranked No. 210 for best value

UNC Greensboro

  • Ranked No. 216 nationally

  • Ranked No. 116 for public universities

  • Ranked No. 206 for best value

Western Carolina University

  • Ranked No. 227 nationally

  • Ranked No. 123 for public universities

Winston-Salem State University

  • Ranked No. 260 nationally

  • Ranked No. 141 for public universities

  • Ranked No. 14 for historically Black colleges and universities

NC A&T University

  • Ranked No. 280 nationally

  • Ranked No. 151 for public universities

  • Ranked No. 7 for historically Black colleges and universities