Harvard University is the number one US college, according to the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education US College Rankings 2018.
Last year’s number one, Stanford University, dropped to joint third (sharing the position with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Columbia University claimed the second-place position.
The rest of the top 10 includes (in descending order) Duke University, Yale University, the California Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Cornell University. Four of the top 10 are part of the Ivy League.
The most represented states in the top 10 are New York, California and Massachusetts, with two universities from each state present.
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The US College Rankings differ slightly from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in that they focus on student engagement and student outcomes. This is why the results and positions of universities may differ between the two rankings.
The US ranking incorporates the results of the THE US Student Survey, which questioned students on their engagement with their studies, their interaction with their teachers and their satisfaction levels gained from their university experience.
Students were also asked about their primary and secondary reasons for attending university, and to offer any additional comments on how their university could improve. More than 200,000 students participated in the THE Student Survey in 2016 and 2017.
This is the second annual release of the WSJ/THE US College Rankings, and more than 1,000 universities were ranked this year.
WSJ/THE US College Rankings 2018: the top 10
| 2018 rank | 2017 rank | Institution | City | State |
| 1 | 2 | Harvard University | Cambridge | MA |
| 2 | 5 | Columbia University | New York | NY |
| =3 | 3 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge | MA |
| =3 | 1 | Stanford University | Stanford | CA |
| 5 | 7 | Duke University | Durham | NC |
| 6 | 6 | Yale University | New Haven | CT |
| 7 | 12 | California Institute of Technology | Pasadena | CA |
| 8 | 4 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | PA |
| 9 | 9 | Princeton University | Princeton | NJ |
| 10 | 8 | Cornell University | Ithaca | NY |
Read more: Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education US College Rankings 2018
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