The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been named a leading public university by recently-released collegiate rankings.

Carolina ranked 28th in this year’s edition of U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of “America’s Best Colleges,” in a six-way tie with NYU, Tufts, UC-Santa Barbara, Florida, and Wake Forest. That ranking is unchanged from last year. Only four public universities ranked ahead of UNC: UCLA, UC-Berkeley, Michigan, and Virginia.

In addition, USNWR ranked Carolina as the tenth-best value in the nation – top among public universities for the 17th straight year.

UNC also had some individual schools and programs rank highly with U.S. News & World Report: Carolina’s undergraduate nursing program ranked fourth in the nation; the business program ranked eighth; and the entrepreneurship program ranked ninth. UNC also ranked as the nation’s tenth-best university for veterans, up two spots from last year.

In a statement, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said: “These rankings demonstrate what we see happening on our campus every day: The Carolina community working to fulfill our mission of life-changing research and world-class scholarship. I am particularly proud to see Carolina once again recognized for remaining accessible and affordable to our students. We are passionately public and we will continue to make a significant impact on the people of our state and beyond.”

U.S. News & World Report was not the only publication to release an annual college ranking. Times Higher Education ranked UNC as the 52nd-best research university in the world – up four spots from last year – in its annual World University Rankings.

For comparison, Princeton is America’s number-one university according to U.S. News & World Report, and Oxford is number one in the world according to Times Higher Education. Duke University came in slightly ahead of UNC – tying for ninth in USNWR’s national ranking, and placing 23rd in THE’s global list.

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 Sees 30 Graduate Programs Place Highly in 2025 U.S. News & World Report Rankings
Two UNC graduate schools placed in the top three of their respective categories in the 2025 rankings shared by the U.S. News & World Report.
'Carolina's For Everybody': UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts on Growth, Affordability, Careers, and Hurricane Relief
With UNC's University Day approaching, Chancellor Lee Roberts joined Aaron for a wide-ranging conversation about the state of the university.
UNC Ranked No. 5 Public University, Best Value in Latest U.S. News & World Report List
The latest rankings from the U.S. News & World Report continued UNC 23-year streak of top 5 finishes among public universities.
UNC Rises to No. 4 in Princeton Review's List of Best Public University Value
UNC is ranked highly once again in The Princeton Review and U.S. World & News Report's latest university rankings.
UNC, Durham Tech Leaders Discuss Measuring Higher Ed Success
For many years, publications have ranked and rated higher education institutions, saying the goal is to better inform people about the value of their education. But after several schools began declining to participate in the latest round of law school rankings by the U.S. News & World Report, more people began questioning their […]
U.S. News & World Report Ranks UNC Fifth Among Public Universities
The U.S. News & World Report has ranked UNC-Chapel Hill fifth in their list of top public schools among national universities. This marks 20 years that UNC has been ranked among the nation’s best universities. The ranking from the U.S. News & World Report also placed UNC among their best value schools list among public national […]
Granted Extra Year, South Dakota Center Cameron Fens Commits to UNC Men's Basketball
Seven-foot center Cameron Fens, who had exhausted his collegiate eligibility until a recent court ruling granted him and other graduating athletes one more season, committed to UNC Friday afternoon. View this post on Instagram Fens, originally from Dubuque, IA, graduated high school in 2022. He began his career with Illinois-Chicago in the Missouri Valley Conference […]
Freshmen, Transfers and More: Every Newcomer Joining UNC Men's Basketball for the 2026-27 Season
As 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 […]
Merritt's Grill Opening Second Location in Chapel Hill; Einstein Bros. Bagels Opening First
Merritt’s Grill, whose BLT sandwiches have been a staple of the Chapel Hill culinary scene since the restaurant opened in 1992, is opening a second location at Finley Golf Club. The restaurant will provide dine-in, to-go and catering services inside the newly refurbished Finley clubhouse and will be open to both players and non-players. An […]
On Air Today: Talking UNC Men's Soccer, with Head Coach Carlos Somoano
Aaron welcomes UNC men's soccer head coach Carlos Somoano to the studio, ahead of the start of the 2026 season.
›