Duke ranks seventh in U.S. News rankings

Duke has climbed one spot in the U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking of national universities.

The University is now tied with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania for seventh place on the list of national university rankings, which includes schools that offer a full range of undergraduate majors as well as master's and doctorate programs. Last year, Duke was tied with the University of Pennsylvania for eighth.

“As we say every year, these rankings are both fleeting and incomplete,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president of public affairs and government relations. “But if there is going to be some sort of national ranking like this, it’s nice to see Duke near the top—as we know it should be.”

The University was also singled out by U.S. News and World Report in four categories in "Programs to Look for"—undergraduate research and creative projects, writing in the disciplines, service learning and the senior capstone project.

Last week, the U.S. News and World Report announced via a blog post that it had changed its ranking methodology. Peer assessment is not weighed as much as it previously was, and graduation and retention rates are considered more heavily. Additionally, the high school rank of a university’s students is weighed less than in years past with greater emphasis given to the average SAT and ACT scores of newly enrolled students, among other changes.

The reason behind Duke’s climb will require analysis, Schoenfeld said.

“When you’re bunched among the top 10...even very small, almost imperceptible differences and changes in any factor can result in a big change,” he noted.

 Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University and Columbia University are first, second, third and fourth on the list, respectively. Stanford University and the University of Chicago are tied for fifth. The top 10 is rounded out by the California Institute of Technology and Dartmouth College, which are tied for tenth.