Carleton remains top 10 liberal arts college in U.S. News and World Report rankings

U.S. News & World Report has again ranked Carleton among the top 10 liberal arts colleges in the nation, and as the nation’s best school for undergraduate teaching.

For 2024, Carleton achieved the ninth place spot for national liberal arts colleges in a tie with Bowdoin College. U.S. News made several methodological changes for this year’s rankings, with more than half of a school’s rank now “comprised of varying outcome measures related to schools’ success at enrolling, retaining, and graduating students from different backgrounds with manageable debt and post-graduate success.” Carleton is still the only Midwestern college named among the top 10 schools.

In academics, Carleton retained the title of the best school for undergraduate teaching, sharing it with Amherst College and Pomona College for 2024. Carleton has held this first place ranking for 13 straight years.

U.S. News & World Report advanced Carleton in the Most Innovative Schools rankings to number 10, in a five-way tie with Davidson College, Grinnell College, Pomona College, and Smith College. Carleton’s ranking also advanced in the categories of Top Performers in Social Mobility and Least Student Debt.

Carleton is ranked number 22 in the nation for Best College Value. The magazine measures value by relating a school’s academic quality, as indicated by its overall U.S. News ranking, with the net cost of attendance for an out-of-state student who received the average level of need-based financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal.

Carleton featured on multiple lists from U.S. News & World Report’s rankings in Academic Programs to Look For as well, including Writing in the Disciplines, Study Abroad, Senior Capstone, Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects, and First-Year Experience. U.S. News & World Report considers schools on these lists to have outstanding examples of academic programs that lead to student success.