AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst again ranks among the nation’s premier public universities, placing at No. 26 among the 146 national public institutions evaluated in the 2021 Best Colleges guide published by U.S. News & World Report.
For seven years running, UMass Amherst has been ranked as a top public university. The order of the top 30 institutions in this year’s rankings changed very little from 2020, with several ties at the 23rd and 19th positions. UMass ranked 24th among public institutions last year.
The university’s overall U.S. News score went up, including an improved graduation rate performance. The six-year graduation rate is 82 percent and the one-year retention rate is 91 percent.
Among all national schools, public and private, UMass is ranked No. 66 among the 312 public and private institutions rated by U.S. News in the Best National Universities category. According to the federal Department of Education, there are more than 3,400 four-year colleges and universities in the United States of which approximately 750 are public.
The U.S. News rankings are based on a variety of weighted factors: graduation rate performance, undergraduate academic reputation, faculty resources, graduation and retention rates, social mobility, indebtedness, alumni giving, financial resources, student selectivity and high school counselor ratings. All of the schools in the National Universities category offer a wide range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and doctoral degrees while emphasizing faculty research.