| 2005 U.S. News Rankings | ||
| 2005 | 2004 | School |
| 1 | 1 | Harvard University |
| 1 | 1 | Princeton University |
| 3 | 3 | Yale University |
| 4 | 5 | University of Pennsylvania |
| 5 | 5 | Duke University |
| 5 | 4 | Massachusetts Inst. of Technology |
| 5 | 5 | Stanford University |
| 8 | 5 | California Institute of Technology |
| 9 | 11 | Columbia University |
| 9 | 9 | Dartmouth College |
| 11 | 11 | Northwestern University |
| 11 | 9 | Washington University in St. Louis |
| 13 | 17 | Brown University |
| 14 | 14 | Cornell University |
| 14 | 14 | Johns Hopkins University |
| 14 | 13 | University of Chicago |
Harvard and Princeton universities tied for the top spot for the second straight year, with Yale University coming in third.
This is the highest Penn has ever been in the rankings. After a No. 16 ranking in 1993, Penn steadily rose on the charts, hitting the No. 4 spot in 2002. This year, Penn holds the spot alone, unlike in 2002 when it was tied with four other schools. Last year, Penn slipped to No. 5.
Columbia and Dartmouth tied at No. 9, Brown came in at No. 13 and Cornell University rounded out the Ivy League at No. 14.
To determine the rankings, U.S. News uses various factors to measure academic quality, including peer assessment, financial resources and student selectivity rate. Out of 100 points, Penn earned a score of 95.
In undergraduate business school rankings, Wharton earned the top spot again, which it has held since 2000. Penn's undergraduate engineering school placed 28th, tied with four other schools. Last year, Penn Engineering was ranked No. 25 after jumping 12 places from a 2002 rank of No. 37. Undergraduate nursing schools are not ranked by U.S. News.
The rankings will be published in U.S. News' 2005 edition of "America's Best Colleges," which comes out later this month.
