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The 2025 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings is here today, Sept. 24.
This year’s U.S. News Best Colleges report includes over 25 articles explaining the methodologies the organization uses to make its yearly rankings. The new edition’s rankings “underwent only slight methodical changes this year” according to the website, so many of the top-ranked colleges have remained similar or the same.
Here are the North Carolina schools included in the latest U.S. News rankings, Western NC schools and more info.
More: Which Western NC college has the highest acceptance rate? Here are the rankings
Best colleges in NC
According to the 2025 U.S. News report, these were the top 10 colleges in NC that made it onto this year’s national universities list, including one school in the overall top 10:
- No. 6 – Duke University
- No. 27 – UNC Chapel Hill
- No. 46 – Wake Forest University
- No. 58 – North Carolina State University
- No. 121 – Elon University
- No. 152 – UNC Charlotte
- No. 189 – East Carolina University
- No. 196 – UNC Greensboro
- No. 196 – UNC Wilmington
- No. 220 – Winston-Salem State University
More: UNC Asheville enrollment up amid deficit, layoffs and department cuts
Western NC college rankings
As for WNC schools, here’s what U.S. News found.
UNC Asheville
UNCA ranked well on several of this year’s lists. In fact, the school was in the top 10 public schools in the country according to U.S. News at No. 9. It also made it onto this year’s list of best national liberal arts colleges at No. 132.
Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University was also ranked well this year by U.S. News. Like UNCA, the school ranked among the top 10 public schools across the nation at No. 2, as well as No. 3 in regional universities south and No. 34 in best value schools.
Western Carolina University
WCU ranked on a few lists including No. 231 in national universities and No. 126 in top public schools.
Warren Wilson College
WWC ranked lower than the WNC public colleges listed so far, in No. 187-204 for national liberal arts colleges. The school did rank on the U.S. News list of top performers on social mobility at No. 151.
Montreat College
Montreat Colleges ranked well on two lists. The college received a ranking of No. 62 on the list of regional colleges south, as well as No. 70 in top performers on social mobility.
Brevard College
Brevard College’s U.S. News page includes the school on three lists. The school placed at No. 34 in regional colleges south, as well as No. 25 in best value schools. It also placed in the top 10 for best undergraduate teaching at No. 4.
Mars Hill University
Last but not least, Mars Hill placed on three lists, including No. 28 on regional colleges south and No. 22 in best value schools. It also placed in the top 10 for best colleges for veterans at No. 8.
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Top 20 National Universities
Here are the U.S. News & World Report best colleges of 2025:
- 1. Princeton University
- 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- 3. Harvard University
- 4. Stanford University
- 5. Yale University
- 6 (tie). California Institute of Technology
- 6 (tie). Duke University
- 6 (tie). Johns Hopkins University
- 6 (tie). Northwestern University
- 10. University of Pennsylvania
- 11 (tie). Cornell University
- 11 (tie). University of Chicago
- 13 (tie). Brown University
- 13 (tie). Columbia University
- 15 (tie). Dartmouth College
- 15 (tie). University of California—Los Angeles
- 17. University of California, Berkeley
- 18 (tie). Rice University
- 18 (tie). University of Notre Dame
- 18 (tie). Vanderbilt University
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.
