Penn placed No. 7 in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 rankings of Best National Universities on Tuesday, moving up three spots from last year when the University earned its lowest ranking since 1997.
The rankings, published on Sept. 23, put the University at fourth place among the Ivy League institutions, with Princeton University claiming the top spot in national rankings, followed by Harvard University at No. 3 and Yale University at No. 4. Penn tied with Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, and Northwestern University for the No. 7 spot.
The Wharton School, which has historically held the No. 1 spot on its own at the top of the undergraduate business program rankings, is now joined by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. The School of Nursing remained at No. 2 — tied with Emory University — among undergraduate nursing programs, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science moved up six spots to rank at No. 21 among undergraduate engineering programs.
Improving from last year, Penn also climbed up four spots to No. 13 in the category of Best Value Schools. That ranking — according to the U.S. News website — is determined based on academic ranking and net attendance costs for out-of-state students with average financial aid awards. Princeton earned the top spot on that list as well.
The change comes after Penn’s announcement of the Quaker Commitment in November 2024, which raised the income threshold for families eligible to receive full-tuition scholarships from $140,000 to $200,000.
The University also tied for No. 3 in U.S. News’ ranking of lowest acceptance rates. In June, Penn announced a 4.9% acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 — the most selective year on record.
According to a U.S. News article, the Sept. 23 rankings reflect less changes than usual, as some data came from previous editions due to delays in updates from the Department of Education’s College Scorecard.
This year’s U.S. News rankings reflected several changes in methodology. Expenditures per student were calculated using credit hours rather than full-time or part-time status, and SAT and ACT scores were eliminated as a factor in certain regional rankings with certain schools remaining test optional.
This year, 79% of over 1,700 ranked institutions reported data to U.S. News, a 0.9% increase from last year.
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In the 2023 rankings, Penn sat at No. 6 on the list of Best National Universities.
