Brown ranked No. 9 nationally in U.S. News’ annual Best Colleges report; PC remains top regional university in North

James Bessette

09/18/2023

PROVIDENCE COLLEGE was ranked No. 1 for a fourth consecutive year in the Regional Universities Nort category in the U.S. News & World Report's annual Best Colleges rankings. / COURTESY PROVIDENCE COLLEGE

PROVIDENCE – Brown University continues to climb in the rankings as being among the best colleges and universities across the U.S., while Providence College still holds steady as being the best northern regional college, according to U.S. News & World Report’s latest annual Best Colleges rankings released Monday.

The publication’s new rankings evaluated approximately 1,500 colleges and universities, using up to 19 measures of academic quality. Additionally, U.S. News’ rankings this year put a greater emphasis on social mobility and outcomes of graduating students.

That significant change is in response to nationwide criticism U.S. News’ college rankings faced last year. Many institutions, including the Rhode Island School of Design and Roger Williams University School of Law, pulled away from participating in the rankings because they say they prioritize an institution’s prestige over contributing to the community.

Brown ranked No. 9 overall this year in the National Universities category, up four spots from last year. The Ivy League institution also ranks No. 3 in Undergraduate Teaching Programs and No. 11 in both the Best Value Schools and Undergraduate Economics Programs categories.

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PC, for the fourth straight year, ranked No. 1 in the Regional Universities North category. It also ranked No. 5 in Undergraduate Teaching Programs and tied for No. 7 in the Most Innovative Schools category. Bryant University in Smithfield ranked No. 6 in the Regional Universities North category.

Despite the arts college not formally participating, RISD not only appears in the Regional Universities North list but also is tied for first with PC and Bentley University in Massachusetts. U.S. News acknowledged that RISD declined to fill out the publication’s 2023 statistical survey, but notes the data appearing for the arts college are from either what RISD reported in previous years or from “another source,” such as the National Center for Education Statistics.

RISD spokesperson Jaime Marland confirmed in a statement to Providence Business News that the arts college no longer participates in the publication’s rankings. After withdrawing, it was RISD’s understanding, she said, that RISD would still appear in the rankings “based solely on publicly available data.”

The University of Rhode Island was tied for No. 151 in the National Universities category. Its highest ranking was a tie for No. 67 in the Undergraduate Nursing Programs category. Rhode Island College’s highest ranking was No. 31 in the Top Public Schools category.

Princeton University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a tie for third between Harvard University and Stanford University note the top-ranked national universities, according to U.S. News.

The rankings for the each of the local colleges are:

Brown University

(Each of the following rankings are in the National Universities category, unless otherwise noted)

No. 9 (tie) – National Universities
No. 11 – Best Value Schools
No. 158 (tie) – Top Performers on Social Mobility
No. 3 – Undergraduate Teaching Programs
No. 11 (tie) – Undergraduate Economics Programs (single category)
No. 23 – Undergraduate Computer Science Programs (single category)
No. 37 (tie) – Undergraduate Engineering Programs (Doctorate) (single category)
No. 20 (tie) – Undergraduate Psychology Programs (single category)
No. 54 – Best Colleges for Veterans

Bryant University