The latest U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings lift up Brigham Young University above other colleges and universities in Utah.
The annual rankings report says BYU, “the flagship university of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is arguably the most notable college in Utah.”
According to the rankings, BYU ranked 89th among universities nationally.
Its J. Reuben Clark Law School ranked 23rd nationally while BYU’s Marriott School of Business ranked 36th, the highest among all Utah schools.
BYU-Hawaii and BYU-Idaho fared well, too, ranking seventh and 14th among colleges in the West region.
While no Utah college or university ranked in the top 10 either nationally or regionally, Westminster College came close.
Not only did the private, liberal arts college in Salt Lake City climb six spots over last year in the latest U.S. News and World Report’s rankings for universities in the West to rank No. 12, it also ranked No. 5 for a best value school.
Snow College, which was seventh among colleges in the West region a year ago, was ranked 16th in the newly released rankings.
U.S. News’ 2022-2023 Best Colleges report is intended to be a guide for prospective students and their families. The rankings are based on evaluations of 1,500 colleges and universities on multiple measures of academic quality.
“For nearly 40 years, the Best Colleges methodology has continuously evolved to reflect changes in the higher education landscape and the interests of prospective students,” said Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News, in a statement.
The University of Utah Park Building in Salt Lake City is pictured on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Other bright spots for Utah colleges and universities were top 10 rankings for some programs.
The University of Utah’s physician assistant program ranked fourth nationally, maintaining its ranking from a year ago. Duke University, the University of Iowa and Baylor University ranked in the top three while Emory University ranked fifth.
The U.’s College of Pharmacy ranked 14th nationally while its Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine was ranked 35th, up from 41st a year ago.
The University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law ranked 37th, up from 43rd a year ago.
The U.’s undergraduate for entrepreneurship in the David Eccles School of Business ranked No. 5 overall and No. 2 among public schools for 2023.
The U.’s College of Social Work, meanwhile, shot up in the rankings to 28th, up from 44th a year ago.
Overall, the University of Utah ranked 105th among universities nationally while Utah State University ranked 250th.
Both fared better on the rankings of public universities, with the U. ranking 48th and USU at 124th. USU’s education program ranked 30th nationally, the highest among Utah universities public or private.
Not all ranked Utah colleges, universities or programs are included in this story.
Westminster College in Salt Lake City is pictured on Wednesday, June 16, 2021.
Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
The top five ranked public universities, according to U.S. News rankings, include University of California, Berkeley, UCLA, University of Michigan, University of Virginia and University of Florida.
The top-ranked universities nationally were all private colleges and universities: Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, California Institute of Technology, and tied for 10th, Duke University and Northwestern University.
Correction: A previous version incorrectly reported BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School was ranked 27th nationally. It ranked 23rd.