Carleton College moves up in U.S. News and World Report rankings

U.S. News & World Report has again ranked Carleton College among the top 10 liberal arts colleges in the nation, and as the nation’s best school for undergraduate teaching.

Carleton moved up in the rankings this year, achieving the sixth place spot in a tie with Bowdoin College and the United States Naval Academy. The rankings take into account the academic reputation of the school, admissions selectivity, retention and graduation rates, class size, financial resources, and alumni giving, among other factors. Carleton is still the only Midwestern college named among the top 10 schools.

In academics, Carleton retained the title of the best school for undergraduate teaching—a No. 1 ranking Carleton has held for 12 straight years.

U.S. News & World Report ranked Carleton No. 21 in the nation for best college value as well, a higher ranking than in 2021. The magazine measures value by relating a school’s academic quality, as indicated by its overall U.S. News ranking, with the net cost of attendance for an out-of-state student who received the average level of need-based financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal.

Carleton also featured on multiple lists from U.S. News & World Report’s rankings in Academic Programs to Look For, including Writing in the Disciplines, Study Abroad, Senior Capstone, Undergraduate Research and First-Year Experience. U.S. News & World Report considers schools on these lists to have outstanding examples of academic programs that lead to student success.