US News releases 2026 best college rankings. Where did Penn State, its programs land?
Penn State is tied for the 26th top national public schools, and tied for 59th overall, in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 “Best Colleges” ranking announced earlier this week. The university rose four spots in both rankings.
U.S. News released its rankings Tuesday for the 2026 top overall universities and public schools, as well as some specialized rankings like best value schools, top performers on social mobility and best colleges for veterans. It includes rankings for top undergraduate programs, like business, economics and computer science, and subcategories as well.
Among its Big Ten peers, Penn State is tied for 12th in the top overall national universities ranking, and tied for ninth in the top national public schools ranking.
Fotis Sotiropoulos, Penn State’s executive vice president and provost, in a release said the university’s national rankings shows the high quality of the faculty and students, and strength of the academic programs.
“Guided by our commitment to academic and research excellence and student success, we are focused as an institution on building on this momentum and advancing Penn State’s reputation as a premier public research university,” Sotiropoulos said.
Penn State continues to struggle in the “best value schools” ranking, landing at 185 out of 207, down one spot from last year, and 16th in the Big Ten. U.S. News says it calculates its value rankings by examining academic quality, the percentage of undergraduate students receiving scholarships, the percentage of students who don’t need to pay back their scholarships and the average discount from a school’s sticker price. High quality and low costs will drive a school toward better value within the rankings.
In the undergraduate program rankings, Penn State saw 14 top-25 rankings — with three in the top ten. Its highest rankings included supply chain management/logistics (ranked eighth), biological/agricultural engineering (ranked seventh) and petroleum engineering (ranked fourth).
- Overall — National Universities: Tied 59, up four spots from last year. Tied 12 in the Big Ten
- Top Public Schools — National Universities: Tied 26, up four spots from last year. Tied 9 in Big Ten
- Best Value Schools — National Universities: 185, down one spot from last year; 16 in Big Ten
- Top Performers on Social Mobility — National Universities: Tied 321, up 15 spots from last year; 16 Big Ten
- Best Colleges for Veterans — National Universities: Tied 34 (up 3). Tied 11 in Big Ten
- Undergraduate Business Programs: Tied for 24, down 1 from last year. Tied 9 in Big Ten
- Undergraduate Economics Programs: Tied 44 (down 1); Tied 10 in Big Ten
- Undergraduate Computer Science Programs: T-39 (up 1). Tied 10 in Big Ten
- Undergraduate Engineering Programs (Doctorate): Tied 21 (down 1). Tied 7 in Big Ten
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs: T-40 (up 14); 8 in Big Ten
- Undergraduate Psychology Programs: Tied 33 (up 1), tied 7 in Big Ten
Where Penn State ranks (specialty areas)
Penn State’s full rankings are below. Only the specialty areas where PSU is ranked have been included.
Business Program Specialities: Accounting — t-58 (down 22), t-10 in Big Ten; Finance — t-34 (up 2), 6 in Big Ten; Management — t-30 (down 2), 10 in Big Ten; Marketing — t-41 (down 2), 9 in Big Ten; Production/Operations Management — 13 (did not change), 6 in Big Ten; Supply Chain Management/Logistics — 8 (up 2), 4 in Big Ten
Engineering Program Specialities: Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical — t-13 (up 3), t-4 in Big Ten; Biological/Agricultural — t-7 (up 4), 3 in Big Ten; Civil — 13 (up 1), 4 in Big Ten; Computer — 23 (not ranked last year), 8 in Big Ten; Electrical/Electronic/Communications — t-24 (not ranked last year), t-8 in Big Ten; Environmental/Environmental Health — t-20 (not ranked last year), t-5 in Big Ten; Industrial/Manufacturing — t-12 (down 1), 6 in Big Ten; Materials — 12 (down 2), 5 in Big Ten; Mechanical — t-16 (down 2), t-5 in Big Ten; Petroleum Engineering — t-4 (no change), 1 in Big Ten
