ANN ARBOR, MI — Five Michigan universities have been listed among the top-200 colleges in the United States, according to the Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S. rankings released on Monday, Sept. 29.
The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor was ranked No. 25 out of 584 colleges nationally this year, ahead of Rice University and Brown University.
This year’s rankings were made in collaboration with College Pulse, an online college demographic survey platform, and Statista, an online data-gathering platform.
The rankings were determined based on student outcomes, which included salary impact and years to pay off college prices, learning environment and diversity.
University of Detroit Mercy was ranked No. 36 overall, ahead of University of Southern California and University of Delaware.
The No. 1 spot on Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S. list went to Stanford University, followed by Babson College, Yale University and Princeton University.
Other Michigan universities among the top-200 Best Colleges in the U.S. list include:
- Michigan State University at No. 114
- Michigan Technological University at No. 163
- Kettering University at No. 198
Thirteen additional Michigan colleges and universities appeared on the Best Colleges in the U.S. list:
- Grand Valley State University at No. 223
- University of Michigan-Dearborn at No. 266
- Oakland University at No. 280
- Central Michigan University at No. 334
- Hope College at No. 359
- Wayne State University at No. 413
- Andrews University at No. 426
- Calvin University at No. 428
- Western Michigan University at No. 458
- Cornerstone University at No. 493
- Eastern Michigan University at No. 499
- Alma College at No. 544
- Northern Michigan University at No. 584
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