For the second year in a row, the "Best Colleges" U.S. News and World Report ranking places Temple University within the top 100 in the national universities category. Temple is ranked No. 98 in the most recent rankings, which were released Tuesday, Sept. 24.
In the rankings, Temple also ranks No. 46 in the category of Top Public Schools and No. 72 in the Best Value category.
“At Temple, we do not specifically seek out rankings. Instead, we remain committed to our mission of opportunity, engagement and discovery, and this year’s rankings show that it is a mission in which we can all take enormous pride,” said Temple President Richard M. Englert. “To once again be included among the top 100 national universities in the country is a significant mark of excellence, and I want to thank all our talented faculty and staff members who have played a part in helping us be recognized in this way. You are truly the best.”
Last year was the first time Temple ranked in the top 100. Temple is one of seven schools to be ranked at No. 98 in the national universities category.
Beginning with last year’s rankings, U.S. News, which has published annual "Best Colleges" rankings since 1983, began to place a greater weight on the outcome measures of quality—such as graduation rates, graduation rate performance and social mobility—deemphasized admissions data, and dropped measures such as acceptance rates and alumni giving rates.
Temple has historically performed well in outcome measures, and that is true this year, too. To that point, Temple ranked No. 33 out of 434 institutions in the graduation rate performance metric. This metric is scored by calculating how a school's actual graduation rate exceeds its predicted graduation rate. The predicted rates are modeled from students’ socioeconomic and academic backgrounds.
“At Temple, we work diligently to create pathways so excellent students from all walks of life have an opportunity to pursue the world-class education that is a hallmark of this university,” Provost Gregory N. Mandel said. “We continue to be intentional about creating opportunities, with one of the most recent examples being the innovative Temple Promise program. What is refreshing about these rankings, particularly regarding our score in the graduation rate performance metric, is that they really affirm that we are on the right path. We all can take pride in this accomplishment.”
A handful of individual undergraduate programs were also highlighted in the latest rankings released by U.S. News. The Fox School of Business had its undergraduate programs of Insurance (No. 4), International Business (No. 12) and Management Information Systems (No. 14) cited in the rankings. The College of Liberal Arts’ Psychology program was ranked No. 68 in the best undergraduate psychology category, while The College of Public Health had its nursing program rank No. 96 in the best undergraduate nursing category.
The rankings come shortly after Temple welcomed its largest incoming class in several years. First-year enrollment is up nearly 30% from one year ago. The Class of 2028 is also one of the most diverse classes in Temple’s history, with more than 60% of the first-year class identifying as a student of color. The class also includes significant increases among its Philadelphia, out-of-state and international student populations.