Rankings of universities in the United States

College and university rankings in the United States are rankings of US colleges and universities ordered by various combinations of various contributing factors which vary greatly depending on the organization performing the ranking. Rankings have most often been conducted by magazines, newspapers, websites, or academics. In addition to ranking entire institutions, organizations perform rankings of specific programs, departments, and schools. Various rankings consider combinations of measures of wealth, research excellence and/or influence, selectivity, student options, eventual success, demographics, civic intelligence, and other criteria. There is much debate about rankings' interpretation, accuracy, usefulness, and appropriateness. The expanding diversity in rating methodologies and accompanying criticisms of each indicate the lack of consensus in the field.

Selectivity—the percentage of applicants admitted (the lower the percentage, the more selective the college)—reflects both desirability (increasing the number of applicants), and competitiveness (how difficult it is to be accepted), although competitiveness also depends on the strength of fellow applicants as well. In 2016, as in the 3 prior years, the most selective university is Stanford, with an acceptance rate of 4.7%, followed by Harvard, at 5.2%. Other low acceptance rates are provided in the following table.

Yield—the percentage of admitted students who accept the offer and attend (the higher the better)—reflects the desirability of the school among those admitted to the school. Yield thus may reflect the academic prestige or reputation of the school, and/or other characteristics of the school that admitted students view as positive or attractive attributes. The following table lists some of the universities with the highest yields in the nation, for students entering in the fall of 2015 (yield figures with asterisk are 2014 figures, the latest available).

Business Insider asks professionals which college they believe best prepares its students for success in life. The top three colleges in the 2014 survey were Stanford, MIT, and Caltech. Below is a summary of the analysis, ranking the colleges from 1 to 5.

The Council for Aid to Education publishes a list of the top universities in terms of annual fundraising. Fundraising ability reflects, among other things, alumni and outside donor's views of the quality of a university, as well as the ability of that university to expend funds on top faculty and facilities. Most recent 2015 rankings put Stanford at the top, ahead of Harvard, USC, UCSF, and Cornell.

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