Overhauled U.S. News rankings show Holy Cross, state universities on the rise

Photo | Courtesy of College of the Holy Cross Vincent Rougeau, president of College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester

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By Timothy Doyle

The College of the Holy Cross and all three of the Central Massachusetts state universities gained in the U.S. News and World Report rankings released Monday, while Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Clark University fell.

The changes for local colleges came as U.S. News overhauled its high-profile ranking system this year. The publication is no longer considering alumni giving or class size in the rankings and added criteria like graduation rates of first-generation college students.

In this year’s rankings, The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester rose to 27th from 33rd in 2022 and from 35th in 2021 on the list of top 211 National Liberal Arts Colleges.

WPI and Clark in Worcester are still highly ranked among the top national universities in the U.S. News rankings, although they did fall this year.

WPI fell to 82nd among 439 national universities, down from 67th in 2022. It was also ranked 61st among engineering schools offering a doctorate degree.

Clark fell to 142nd from #97 in 2022. It was also ranked 38th among best value schools.

Dean College in Franklin held fast since 2022 at 29th in the Regional Colleges North category.

Several Central Massachusetts universities were ranked in the Regional Universities North category, including all three of the region’s state universities gaining in the rankings:

Fitchburg State University was ranked 69th, up from 85th in 2022.
Framingham State University was ranked 80th, up from 93rd in 2022.
Worcester State University was ranked 96th, up from 101st in 2022
Assumption University in Worcester was ranked 54th, down from 40th in 2022.
Nichols College in Dudley was ranked 118th, up from 121st in 2022.
Anna Maria College in Paxton was ranked among a grouping of #152-167, approximately the same as in 2022.