UNC is ranked highly once again in The Princeton Review and U.S. World & News Report’s latest university rankings.

The Princeton Review’s annual list of their best value public universities was released on Thursday and UNC checked in at No. 4 in the rankings. The list aims to measure a public university’s “return on investment” — calculated based upon its academic strength, financial aid rating, graduation rates, salary data and additional factors. The latest placement marks an improvement for the Chapel Hill campus, which placed seventh in the 2023 list from the educational resource company.

UNC also placed second for financial aid support and resources in that category of The Princeton Review’s list. It also placed in the top ten for ‘Best Schools for Making An Impact,’ which is based off student survey responses to questions about campus service efforts like student government, sustainability projects, volunteering opportunities and other on-campus engagement.

“We are extremely proud of our ability to provide a high-quality and nationally competitive education while remaining affordable and accessible,” UNC Interim Chancellor Lee H. Roberts said in a release by the university. “Our goal is to ensure that each of our outstanding students can gain a college degree without the burden of college debt. This recognition by The Princeton Review is reflective of our hardworking and dedicated faculty and staff, our generous donors and the exceptional longstanding support of North Carolina’s taxpayers.”

The three schools ahead of UNC in the latest Princeton Review rankings of public universities are Georgia Tech, the University of California, and the University of Virginia.

The Princeton Review rankings came shortly after the U.S. News & World Report shared its 2024-25 Best Global Universities, ranking 2,250 schools from across the earth based on research performance and reputation. Carolina comes in at No. 47 globally and 23rd out of the U.S. universities on the list, with its global research and regional research reputations among the highest scores it received. The ranking is largely in line with the U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 nationwide rankings which had UNC ranked No. 22 overall and as the No. 4 public university in the U.S.

The full U.S. News & World Report global rankings can be found on its website, while the Princeton Review 2024 list can be found here.

 

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story has an errant mention of Princeton University, which the Princeton Review is not affiliated with. The story has been updated.

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