A new nationwide ranking of universities landed UNC top honors in its region.
The university is the top large university in the southern United States, according to the 2021 Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings. The recently released list has UNC ranked ahead of University of Virginia and University of Miami in the category, which includes schools with more than 10,000 undergraduate students.
The newspapers’ ranking also listed UNC as the third best public university in the country and 33rd best overall, maintaining the Chapel Hill school’s positions from the previous edition of the list. Ranking, according to the Wall Street Journal/Times, is determined by 15 factors across four main categories: resources, engagement, outcomes and environment.
“These rankings are a tribute to the faculty and staff who work every day to offer our students the uniquely Carolina programs that provide a high-quality experiential education that is accessible and affordable,” said UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz in a release. “As the nation’s first public university, our mission is to serve the state, nation and world through excellence in teaching, research and service. In fulfilling that mission, we are equipping our students to become future leaders in all that they do.”
The public universities ahead of UNC in the Wall Street Journal/Times rankings are University of Michigan and University of California, Los Angeles. The list’s top five overall universities are Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, Stanford and Brown.
Down the road from Chapel Hill, Duke University also earned recognition from the Wall Street Journal/Times, as it was named the southern region’s top midsized school.
In September, The U.S. News & World Report ranked UNC fifth in their list of top public schools among national universities. Previously, Microsoft Academic recognized UNC by naming it the highest-rated university in the country for coronavirus research.
The full, overall 2021 Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings can be found here.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.
Related Stories
‹

UNC Ranked as Top Public School in the South RegionSome of the latest academic rankings saw UNC again land top honors within its region. The Wall Street Journal/Times recently shared its regions list for the papers’ 2022 Higher Education College Rankings, with the Chapel Hill university once again being the top public school in the southeastern United States. In the initial publication of the rankings […]

UNC Listed as Third-Best Public U.S. University in Latest Academic RankingsAs the newest rankings of universities across the United States continue to be released, UNC continues to place highly among other public universities. The Wall Street Journal/Times shared its Higher Education 2022 College Rankings List on Tuesday, which saw UNC place third among public colleges in the country. Across all public and private schools, the […]

UNC Rises to No. 4 in Princeton Review's List of Best Public University ValueUNC is ranked highly once again in The Princeton Review and U.S. World & News Report's latest university rankings.

New World Ranking Places UNC Among Top 30 UniversitiesUNC earned one of the higher spots in a recent ranking of universities across the globe. The 2021 Academic Ranking of World Universities, released each year by the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, placed the Chapel Hill institution 29th in the world and 20th in the country. Additionally, the list ranks UNC seventh among public universities in the […]

Freshmen, Transfers and More: Every Newcomer Joining UNC Men's Basketball for the 2026-27 SeasonAs Michael Malone embarks on his first season as the head coach of the UNC men’s basketball program, he’s gotten busy securing the additions of several newcomers to the program. Malone and his staff have mined from traditional high school recruiting and the transfer portal to fill out Carolina’s roster, and that work is continuing […]

Report: UNC's Henri Veesaar to Declare for NBA DraftAccording to a report from CBS’ Matt Norlander, UNC center Henri Veesaar plans to leave Chapel Hill and declare for the NBA Draft. The report came as Veesaar was approaching the deadline to enter his name to the draft process, which is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Apr. 24. Veesaar spent the first three seasons of […]

UNC's Reese Brantmeier Named ACC Women's Tennis Player of the Year for 2nd Straight YearUNC’s Reese Brantmeier was named the ACC Player of the Year this week for the second consecutive season, and four other teammates earned All-ACC honors as well. Your back-to-back 𝘼𝘾𝘾 𝙋𝙇𝘼𝙔𝙀𝙍 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙔𝙀𝘼𝙍 🐐#GoHeels pic.twitter.com/BwpgcCnNkf — Carolina Women's Tennis 🐏🎾 (@UNC_wtennis) April 23, 2026 Brantmeier was named first team All-ACC honors in both singles […]

Chansky's Notebook: The ArenaArt Chansky wonders aloud whether alumni and fans can afford to support UNC in this ever-changing world of play for play.

DeCaro Dominates as UNC Baseball Beats Duke in Series OpenerJason DeCaro allowed just three hits and one run across 7.2 innings in a 3-1 win for the Diamond Heels at Duke Thursday night. 𝐇𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 1️⃣ Decaro out duels Duke and we open with a 𝙙𝙪𝙗!#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/5LOXcbe51H — Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) April 24, 2026 UNC’s bats struggled themselves for much of […]

A Place to Connect and Heal: UNC Holds Annual Community Walk for Suicide PreventionOn Saturday, community members and college students alike met on UNC’s campus for a mile-long walk to destigmatize suicide prevention.
›