Boston College was part of a three-way tie for the No. 31 spot in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report rankings, released Monday evening, jumping five places to its highest rank since 2016.
The annual rankings tied BC with New York University and neighboring Tufts University.
U.S. News determines its ranking of 1,700 colleges and universities across the country by evaluating schools on 17 measures of academic quality and graduate success. The criteria weighted highest in the rankings were student outcomes (52 percent), peer assessment (20 percent), and faculty resources (11 to 15 percent).
According to the release, the rankings are based on data submitted by colleges and universities through U.S. News statistical surveys, cross-checked against the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and the Common Data Set.
The five-place improvement marks the first ranking from the organization since University President Rev. Jack Butler, S.J., took over as BC’s 26th president.
Despite a second turbulent year for higher education, including continued cuts to government research funding and ongoing policy changes for international students, the University’s ranking reflects its highest jump since its six-place climb in 2006.
BC saw strong shifts alongside its Boston-area peers, with Boston University moving to No. 34 this year, Brandeis University jumping to No. 59, and Northeastern climbing to No. 42.
In Cambridge, both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology again took two of the top three spots nationwide. Harvard maintained its No. 3 rank while MIT claimed the No. 1 spot.
BC maintained its rank as the nation’s third-highest Catholic university, behind the University of Notre Dame, which remained at No. 20, and Georgetown University, which increased one spot to No. 23.
Among program-specific rankings, the Carroll School of Management saw both its accounting and finance programs fall, moving to the No. 11 and No. 7 spots, respectively: a one-rank drop for finance and a three-rank drop for accounting. Analytics climbed to tie at No. 8, marketing climbed to No. 9, entrepreneurship fell to No. 14, and management improved one place to No. 10.
The University’s Connell School of Nursing climbed one place after its four-place drop in 2026 and now sits at No. 12 nationwide in undergraduate nursing programs, tied with six other universities, including New York University, the University of Florida, and the University of Virginia.
