Penn State was ranked No. 30 among public universities in U.S. News & World Reports’ 2025 “Best Colleges”.

The university was ranked the top public university in Pennsylvania with 12 undergraduate programs earning a top-25 rating nationwide. Penn State was also ranked No. 63 out of 436 national universities but was ranked No. 184 of 206 for best-value schools.

“Strong placements in rankings such as U.S. News reflect our ongoing commitment to excellence in our threefold mission of teaching, research, and service,” Tracy Langkilde, Penn State interim executive vice president and provost, said in a release.

Penn State remained strong in its undergraduate program rankings with 12 top-25 ratings and three in the top 10, including engineering and business. The rankings were based solely on the judgment of the academic leadership and senior faculty in such programs who participated in a peer assessment survey.

Penn State was slated No. 20 out of 209 schools in “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs,” No. 23 out of 532 institutions in “Best Undergraduate Business Programs”, No. 34 out of 681 institutions for “Best Undergraduate Psychology Programs,” No. 40 out of 584 institutions ranked for “Best Undergraduate Economics Programs” and No. 54 out of 686 institutions for “Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs.”

Among national universities, Penn State ranked No. 37 out of 166 programs in “Best College for Veterans” for its network of students, staff, and faculty who have military ties as either service members, veterans, or military dependents.

Folks interested in looking at the full rankings can find them here.