Welcome to the Washington Monthly’s annual College Guide and Rankings, where we rate schools based on what they do for the country. It’s our answer to U.S. News & World Report, which relies on crude and easily manipulated measures of wealth, exclusivity, and prestige.
If you want to know what really counts in higher education, look at the Monthly’s rankings—you’ll find some welcome surprises.
Arne Duncan, former Secretary of Education
We also rank Best Bang for the Buck colleges, which help non-wealthy students obtain marketable degrees at affordable prices. Click here to read our methodology. Click here to read our 2025 College Guide magazine issue.
Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars
A college degree is costly, to both students and taxpayers. Here’s the only list that shows which institutions provide good value to both.
Liberal Arts Colleges
Baccalaureate colleges that focus on arts and sciences rather than professional programs.
Master’s Universities
Institutions that award a significant number of master’s degrees but few or no doctoral degrees.
Bachelor’s Colleges
Institutions that award almost exclusively bachelor’s degrees.
Washington Monthly’s rankings are a vital resource for students, parents, and taxpayers alike.
Miguel Cardona, former Secretary of Education
America’s Best Colleges For Research
The universities driving American innovation aren’t just in blue states—and neither is the damage from Trump’s research cuts.
America’s Best Hispanic-Serving Colleges
In a time of enrollment crunch, universities have a moral and existential obligation to serve the one student population that’s growing. We tracked how good a job they’re doing.
25 Best-in-Class Colleges
A selection of stand-out institutions from the Washington Monthly’s college rankings.
Achieving a State of Excellence in Higher Ed
In the Washington Monthly college rankings, public universities from a handful of states with strong higher education governance systems dominate the top. What are they doing right? And what lessons do they offer about how to provide quality, affordable degrees to students of modest means when help from Washington, DC is not coming?
For even more information, click here, and be sure to check out our books, The Other College Guide and Never Too Late: The Adult Student’s Guide to College.
We are deeply grateful to the Lumina Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the Strada Education Foundation for their support.
Please contact David Greene at 202-413-4736 or D.greene1@comcast.net to inquire about advertising and marketing opportunities with the Washington Monthly, including print/online combos.
