College Raptor Releases 2026 College Rankings

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 2, 2025, 9:15 PM

college raptor releases 2026 college rankings

College rankings headlines are often dominated by the same names: Ivy Leagues, elite research universities and schools that admit only a fraction of applicants. But that leaves out most students, say experts. “The average GPA across all U.S. high schools is 3.0, according to the College Board. For these everyday students, and for families earning an average income between $50,000-$150,000 – the journey to higher education should be about finding a college they can both attend and afford with confidence,” says... That’s why this year, College Raptor is reframing the conversation with its 2026 list of the 25 Most Affordable Great Colleges for “B” Students.

Prioritizing possibility over prestige, the list highlights institutions that provide both quality and affordability for the students and families who represent the national average, giving a real, unbiased look at the accessible pathways to... “For students with a solid ‘B’ grade average and families in middle-income brackets, expanding the definition of ‘dream school’ to include attainable options that align with family income, grades and additional factors can help... To draw up the list, Raptor leveraged insights from hundreds of colleges, millions of machine learning models and other publicly available data to evaluate academics, student success, faculty quality, campus resources and financial health. Every institution on the list is considered a match or safety for “B” students, with an average acceptance rate of 74%. Graduates of these institutions with B academics and $50,000-150,000 financial profiles would pay on average less than 9% of their income towards student debt. That’s more than 20% less than other four-year colleges that are most likely to accept “B” students.

Plus, each school ranks in the top half of accredited four-year institutions nationwide, demonstrating that affordability doesn’t mean sacrificing excellence. SHERMAN, TEXAS – Austin College has been selected as a 2026 Best College in the U.S. by College Raptor, a leading college planning platform that helps families discover college matches driven by AI algorithms to find the best colleges at the best price. This selection recognizes Austin College as a leading institution based on a combination of factors including the school’s graduation rates, campus diversity, endowment per student, selectivity and other key metrics as reported via the... “Since 2015, we’ve carefully assembled our lists each year to highlight the best schools in different categories to help families get started in the discovery process,” said Bill Staib, College Raptor’s CEO. "Austin College has shown dedication to academic excellence.

We are proud to highlight them.” College Raptor’s full methodology is outlined here. About College Raptor, Inc. College Raptor, Citizens’ college planning platform, is the most evolved, accurate, and comprehensive college search site with tools to empower students, parents, counselors, and colleges with college planning. College Raptor is the only college search platform that enables students and families to discover quality, affordable college options based on personalized estimates of financial aid, scholarships, academic match, and acceptance odds at every... More than 35 million students and families have used College Raptor to find cost-effective, academically appropriate college options that prepare them for future careers.

For more information, visit CollegeRaptor.com. Now Live in the Citizens Student Hub, a New Digital Resource for Students and Families PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- With college costs rising and families more focused than ever on real value, students are rethinking what makes a school the “right fit.” Today, College Raptor, Citizens’ college planning platform, released... Unlike traditional rankings that prioritize prestige and exclusivity, Hidden Gems highlights lesser-known schools that are smaller in size, maintain a more accessible acceptance rate, and consistently deliver strong academic outcomes. Featured this year is a Hidden Gems list for Middle Class Affordability, featuring colleges that provide meaningful financial value to middle-income families while ensuring the quality education and support necessary for student success. New Citizens Student Hub: Comprehensive College Planning and Financial Resource For the first time, the Hidden Gems rankings are available within the Citizens Student Hub, a new digital resource that brings together personalized college...

Designed to support students from high school through post-college, the hub integrates College Raptor’s research and College Match Tools with Citizens’ deposit, credit, and lending products, helping students and their families make confident, informed... “We’re at a turning point in how students and families approach college decisions,” said William Staib, Co-Founder and President of College Raptor. “It’s no longer just about getting in; it's about finding great schools that families can afford and where students will thrive. The Hidden Gems lists and the Citizens Student Hub were built with that purpose: to give students and families insights and personalized support to navigate this journey with clarity and confidence.” 2026 Hidden Gems Highlights The Hidden Gems rankings spotlight schools that combine excellence with attainability, typically those with fewer than 7,000 undergraduate students, fewer than 5,000 applications annually, and five or more unique majors. The 2026 lists include:

More than 1,700 U.S. colleges and universities are ranked, with most participating in the U.S. News statistical survey. Princeton University, Office of Communications, Denise Applewhite Princeton University in New Jersey ranks as the top school among National Universities in the 2026 Best Colleges rankings. The annual U.S.

News Best Colleges rankings were released today, with top-ranked schools staying mostly steady from last edition as the methodology was largely unchanged. The vast majority of schools U.S. News surveyed continued to report data: 79% of the more than 1,700 ranked institutions returned their statistical information in the spring and summer of 2025, compared to about 78.1% last year. This includes 99 of the top 100 ranked National Universities and 97 of the top 100 National Liberal Arts Colleges. The 41st edition serves as a year-over-year benchmark for students and families. WASHINGTON, Sept.

23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in education rankings, today announced the 2026 Best Colleges rankings. Serving as a guide for prospective students and their families, the national and regional rankings evaluate nearly 1,700 colleges and universities using up to 17 measures of academic quality. In a show of continued excellence, eight of the top-ranked schools in the ten ranking categories retained their No. 1 position, with the remaining two finishing a strong second. "For over four decades, Best Colleges has served as a trusted and data-backed resource for students and families navigating the complex college search process," says LaMont Jones, Ed.D., managing editor for Education at U.S.

News. "Over the years, Best Colleges has evolved into a comprehensive tool that reflects the changing landscape of higher education, providing prospective students with a crucial starting point to identify schools that align with their... Core methodology and weighting factors remained the same this year, but small portions of underlying data were adjusted to reflect evolving admissions considerations, cohort representation and student involvement. An annual tradition, each fall is the release of the latest “Best Colleges” guide by U.S. News & World Report. First published in 1983, it has been described as the most influential institutional ranking in the country.

The highly anticipated 2026 ranking has now been released, assigning pecking order to nearly 1,500 four-year institutions that offer bachelor’s degrees. The latest edition cites the same “Top 5” Best National Universities from last year: Princeton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard, Stanford and Yale. This year, the University of Chicago was awarded sixth place and there was a four-way tie for seventh place: Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, and University of Pennsylvania. California Institute of Technology ranked 11th, Cornell ranked 12th, Brown and Dartmouth tied for 13th, and Columbia and University of California – Berkeley tied for 15th place. There was a three-way tie for 17th place among Rice, Vanderbilt, and UCLA, and a four-way-tie for 20th place among Carnegie Mellon, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Notre Dame, and Washington... Louis.

The next highest ranking universities, in sequential order, were Emory, Georgetown, UNC – Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, University of Southern California, University of California – San Diego, University of Florida, University of Texas... Every year, the U.S. News & World Report‘s Best Colleges rankings list stirs up conversation: Which schools came out on top? Which ones dropped in rankings? For some, the list serves as a temperature check on higher education as a whole, showing which schools are thriving amid current events and trends, and which aren’t. Some high schoolers (and their families) even use the list to determine what colleges they’re going to apply to.

But for many, the list brings up more questions than answers: What even makes a school “better” than any of the others? What criteria is used in order to determine the “best” colleges? And how much does it all actually matter for current and future college students? U.S. News & World Report is well known for its college rankings; the outlet has been releasing its Best Colleges list for 41 years. “For over four decades, Best Colleges has served as a trusted and data-backed resource for students and families navigating the complex college search process,” LaMont Jones, managing editor for Education at U.S.

News, said in a press release about the 2026 list. “Over the years, Best Colleges has evolved into a comprehensive tool that reflects the changing landscape of higher education, providing prospective students with a crucial starting point to identify schools that align with their... A post shared by U.S. News & World Report (@usnews) Here’s a closer look at what that actually means for students. U.S.

News & World Report has its own methodology for ranking schools, which has largely stayed the same in recent years, but is adjusted based on changes made in the higher education landscape over time. For the 2026 list, researchers looked at more than 1,700 colleges and universities in the U.S., and used up to 17 different factors to determine the quality of the schools’ academics and the success... Factors include (but aren’t limited to!) things like graduation rates, first-year retention rates, financial resources per student, student-faculty ratio, and standardized tests. The overall list factors in all criteria in order to determine rankings, while there are other specialized rankings based on various areas of interest, such as the most innovative colleges, the best value schools,...

College Raptor Releases 2026 College Rankings

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College Rankings Headlines Are Often Dominated By The Same Names:

Prioritizing Possibility Over Prestige, The List Highlights Institutions That Provide

Plus, Each School Ranks In The Top Half Of Accredited

We Are Proud To Highlight Them.” College Raptor’s Full Methodology

For More Information, Visit CollegeRaptor.com. Now Live In The Citizens