Johns Hopkins No. 9 in 'U.S. News' best colleges rankings

Johns Hopkins University is No. 9 among national universities according to the latest rankings of the nation's best colleges for undergraduates from U.S. News & World Report, released today. The publication also recognized Hopkins as a national leader in reducing student debt and fostering innovation and undergraduate research.

Hopkins is tied with Brown University and Northwestern University in the overall rankings, which have counted JHU among the top 10 since 2015—including No. 7 a year ago—and in the top 20 since the rankings launched in the 1980s. The publication modified its formula for its 2024 rankings cycle, dropping some longstanding factors, changing the weights of several others, and introducing a few new metrics—methodological shifts that can result in significant changes to schools' rankings, according to U.S. News.

This year, the rankings were calculated using as many as 19 key measures of academic quality to evaluate nearly 1,500 U.S. four-year bachelor's degree-granting institutions. These statistics reflect educational excellence and graduate outcomes as well as considerations that vary person-to-person, like campus culture, strength in specific majors, and financial aid offered. First-generation student graduation rates were also added to the calculations for the 39th edition of the rankings.

Johns Hopkins ranked No. 5 nationally for low levels of student debt, up from No. 9 last year. Among U.S. News' top 30 universities for 2024, only Princeton ranked above JHU for graduate indebtedness. Johns Hopkins has made steady gains in this metric in a short time, cutting the average Hopkins graduate's federal loan debt in half since 2018. This major improvement is rooted in the university's efforts to eliminate student debt, with the help of a transformative $1.8 billion gift from philanthropist, business leader, and former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a member of the Homewood class of 1964, to support undergraduate financial aid.

Johns Hopkins was once again recognized as a best value school (No. 9), reflecting significant increases in financial aid. U.S. News cited Johns Hopkins as one of the nation's most innovative schools and as a best destination for undergraduate research and creative projects. JHU also scored high marks in two categories that are new this year: It tied at No. 11 in undergraduate psychology programs and tied at No. 20 in undergraduate economics programs.

In other individual undergraduate program rankings, Johns Hopkins was:

• No. 2 in biomedical engineering (tie)
• No. 4 in biocomputing/bioinformatics/biotechnology
• No. 13 in engineering overall (tie)
• No. 18 in computer science (tie)
• No. 18 in environmental health (tie)
• No. 19 in cybersecurity (tie)
• No. 20 in materials engineering (tie)
• No. 21 in artificial intelligence (tie)
• No. 21 in data analytics/science (tie)
• No. 22 in mechanical engineering (tie)
• No. 25 in chemical engineering
• No. 28 in electrical engineering