For the second year in a row, the University of Denver moved up in the US News & World Report National Universities rankings, which were released today, to #117. Denver’s 2026 ranking moved up from a recent low of #123 two years ago to #121 last year and gained another four places in this year’s edition.
Two universities in Colorado made the Top 100. For the second year in a row, the engineering-focused Colorado School of Mines is the highest-ranked Colorado university at #80, a four-spot drop from a year ago. The University of Colorado Boulder moved up one spot to #97 to remain in the Top 100. DU, however, trailed both at #117, despite its four-spot rise. Colorado State University finished #151. Colorado College was ranked #30 among National Liberal Arts Colleges. (Colorado College officially withdrew from the U.S. News & World Report rankings in February 2023, citing concerns about the methodology and fairness, but reentered this year.)
DU was scored in a cluster between #110 and #127, with the same rank score as Arizona State University (fellow NCHC member), Elon, Creighton, George Mason, Illinois Institute of Technology, Iowa State University S&T, San Diego State University, the University of Central Florida, and the University of New Hampshire. Seven schools were bunched with a #110 ranking ahead of DU. A slight improvement in next year’s scoring could vault Denver closer to the valuable ‘Top 100’ group.
Of the 436 Best Universities ranked, the No. 1 college in the U.S. is Princeton, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard – the same order as last year’s ranking. Denver ranked substantially ahead of its primary athletic conference peers in the Summit League.
There were no major changes to ranking factors and weights. US News & World Report applies 17 scoring metrics to force-rank universities. Generally, the scoring remained unchanged from last year with a few minor tweaks.
The Denver Difference, recently launched by DU, is an initiative aimed at raising funds for needs-based students and addressing this metric. The recent R1 Research Institution designation and the expansion of the STEM Campus on the south end of campus may provide additional long-term strength to the University’s academic profile.
With tuition over $63,000, surprisingly, the University was ranked #97 as a Best Value. Denver also scored in the Top 100 for Best for Veterans (#78). A disappointing result was Engineering for Undergraduates, a recent focus for DU, at #176, a drop of eight places. Interestingly, DU’s Daniels School of Business had no programs in the Top 100. DU’s acceptance rate stands at 77%, up 6 percentage points.
As recently as 2020, DU jumped 17 places to rank 80th among national universities, but has been sliding back in the rankings until rebounding the past two years based on the scoring methodology. While many may view the scoring as arbitrary and there are many valid criticisms of the rankings, many parents and students still use the annual US News & World Report National Universities Rankings as a quick and easy guide to determine an educational “value proposition.” DU would clearly benefit from a return to the Top 100. It appears, at least based on the past couple of years, that the University is beginning to move in the right direction.
The Ritchie School has some well regarded niche programs but still needs some work if it wants to be a heavy hitter in engineering. I can’t take them seriously if they don’t offer a civil degree.
I think DU not being out of the USNWR top 100 for a while now is hurting the school in a number of ways.
While falling enrollment is a reality for a number of schools due to the falling national numbers of college-age students, most of the USNWR top 100 schools are not feeling the current admission pains that DU is…DU is facing an admissions shortfall of at least 300-500 less students than even a few years ago. That admission shortfall is causing a $12-15 million hole in the budget…
DU has already lost at least 25% of its foreign enrollment, and those numbers may never rebound to what they were before, given the political climate around student visas. That also hurts cash flow, as most foreign students are full-pay students.
Additionally, I don’t have hard numbers on this, but DU’s Jewish enrollment is no longer the 10% of total students it once was, due in large measure to the campus antisemitism during the encampments. That’s a sad by-product of misplaced hatred, and another costly, self-inflicted wound on the campus community.
Finally, I think DU’s long years of intense DEI focus from 2005 to more recently has also taken a huge toll on the school, as the whole academic enterprise has fallen in stature. DU was once a solid player in the USNWR the top 100, but other schools have just passed us, as DU changed its primary emphasis from academic excellence to pandering to marginalized. There is a cost to that, and the days of DU being in the top 100 are probably over….