2021 ranking — No. 58 (tie)
2020 ranking — No. 64 (tie)
2021 ranking — No. 66 (tie)
2020 ranking — No. 70 (tie)
2021 ranking — No. 76 (tie)
2020 ranking — No. 77 (tie)
2021 ranking — No. 80 (tie)
2020 ranking — No. 104 (tie)
2021 ranking — No. 143 (tie)
2020 ranking — No. 139 (tie)
Georgetown University is once again the highest-ranked institution of higher learning in Greater Washington, according to the latest annual U.S. News ranking of best colleges.
The private university moved one spot to No. 23 on the new 2021 rankings, scoring just above the University of Michigan and just below the University of California-Berkeley.
Nearly every Greater Washington institution climbed the list this year, with the University of Maryland and Howard University posting the biggest gains. Howard moved up 24 spots to No. 80, while UMd. climbed six spots to a tie for No. 64.
You can take a look at the D.C.-area universities that made the ranking and how they fared in the gallery above.
A bit outside of the Beltway, meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore moved up one spot into a three-way tie for No. 9 with the California Institute of Technology and Northwestern University.
The rankings come as colleges across the country attempt to bring students back to campus safely during the Covid-19 pandemic and are facing calls to slash tuition as a result of not being able to offer robust face-to-face instruction. Universities are also dealing with budget crunches created by pandemic-related enrollment declines, canceled revenue-generating athletics events and, in the case of public schools, waning state funding as local and state governments deal with tax revenue declines created by business closures.
Princeton University held serve as the nation's top university, according to the rankings, released Monday, followed by Harvard University at No. 2 and Columbia University at No. 3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University tied for No. 4. The entire U.S. News rankings are available here.
The rankings include data on nearly 1,400 schools across the U.S., with a focus on academic quality and measures such as graduation rates, retention rates and social mobility. Howard ranked at No. 11 in the county in social mobility, which evaluates the enrollment and graduation rates of low-income students.
Among other universities from just outside Greater Washington:
- University of Virginia — No. 26 (tie)
- College of William & Mary — No. 39 (tie)
- Virginia Tech — No. 74 (tie)
- Virginia Commonwealth University — No. 160 (tie)
In the ranking of undergraduate business programs, UVa. led all D.C., Maryland and Virginia schools at No. 7, tied with the University of North Carolina, Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University. Georgetown ranked No. 16 in a tie with Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin. UMd. ranked No. 19, Hopkins at No. 32, Virginia Tech at No. 38, George Washington University at No. 44, College of William & Mary at No. 53, George Mason University at No. 81 and American University at No. 97.
