Recent Rankings
U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges" (Undergraduate) 2022-23
Penn State ranks 31st among national public universities in U.S. News' annual "Best Colleges" rankings for 2022-23. Penn State is in the top 25 among American Association of Universities public institutions and tied for 77th overall among 443 institutions included in the overall "National Universities" ranking.
Specialty Undergraduate Programs
Individual undergraduate program rankings released by U.S. News include seven top-10 ratings for select programs in engineering and business, among others.
Best Undergraduate Business Programs
Penn State tied for #23 in “Best Undergraduate Business Programs,” out of 516 ranked institutions. In addition, the University ranked in the following specialties:
- #4 in Supply Chain Management/Logistics (tie)
- #9 in Insurance (tie)
- #10 in Production/Operation Management
- #13 in Real Estate
- #14 in Management (tie)
- #27 in Marketing (tie)
- #28 in Accounting (tie)
- #31 in Finance (tie)
Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (at schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)
Penn State tied for #22 out of 212 ranked institutions in “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs.” In addition, the University ranked in the following specialties:
- #7 in Petroleum Engineering (tie)
- #8 in Biological/Agricultural Engineering (tie)
- #9 in Materials Engineering
- #10 in Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering
- #14 in Mechanical Engineering (tie)
- #15 in Civil Engineering
- #17 in Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering
- #18 in Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering
- #23 in Electrical/Electronic/Communications Engineering (tie)
- #21 in Chemical Engineering (tie)
- #27 in Computer Engineering (tie)
Best Undergraduate Computer Science Programs
- Penn State tied for 37, out of 537 ranked programs.
Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs
- Penn State tied for 39, out of 681 ranked programs.
U.S. News & World Report, "America's Best Graduate Schools 2022-23"
U.S. News “Best Graduate Schools” ranks professional school programs in business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing, including specialties in each area.
#33 in Best Business Schools (Smeal College of Business) (tie)
- #4 in Supply Chain/Logistics (tie)
- #10 in Production/Operations
- #26 in Management (tie)
- #28 in Accounting (tie)
- #39 in Business Analytics (tie)
#41 in Best Education Schools (College of Education) (tie)
- #4 in Higher Education Administration (tie)
- #4 in Student Counseling and Personnel Services (tie)
- #7 in Educational Administration and Supervision
- #12 in Special Education (tie)
- #13 in Secondary Teacher Education (tie)
- #14 in Curriculum and Instruction
- #14 in Education Policy (tie)
- #14 in Educational Psychology (tie)
- #18 in Elementary Teacher Education (tie)
#32 in Best Engineering Schools (College of Engineering)
- #7 in Petroleum Engineering
- #9 in Nuclear Engineering (tie)
- #10 in Industrial/Manufacturing/Systems Engineering (tie)
- #11 in Biological/Agricultural Engineering
- #11 in Materials Engineering
- #14 in Mechanical Engineering (tie)
- #15 in Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering (tie)
- #17 in Civil Engineering (tie)
- #24 in Chemical Engineering (tie)
- #25 in Electrical/Electronic/Communications Engineering (tie)
- #27 in Computer Engineering (tie)
- #34 in Biomedical Engineering/Bioengineering (tie)
Humanities and Social Sciences
- #23 in Sociology
—#3 in Sociology of Population (tie)
—#15 in Social Stratification (tie) - #26 in Psychology (tie)
—#5 in Industrial Organizational Psychology (tie) - #27 in Criminology
- #27 in Economics (tie)
—#9 in International Economics (tie)
—#13 in Microeconomics
—#17 in Econometrics (tie)
Public Affairs
- #70 in Best Public Affairs Programs, University Park (tie)
- #70 in Best Public Affairs Programs, Penn State Harrisburg School of Public Affairs (tie)
Sciences
- #1 in Geology
- #4 in Geochemistry
- #6 in Earth Sciences (tie)
—#2 in Environmental Sciences (tie)
—#3 in Geology
—#3 in Geochemistry (tie)
—#7 in Paleontology (tie)
—#9 in Geophysics (tie) - #19 in Statistics (tie)
- #23 in Physics (tie)
—#12 in Cosmology/Relativity/Gravity
—#14 in Condensed Matter (tie)
—#16 in Atomic/Molecular/Optical (tie) - #28 in Biostatistics (tie)
- #30 in Chemistry (tie)
—#16 in Biochemistry (tie)
—#22 in Physical Chemistry (tie) - #32 in Mathematics (tie)
—#32 in Applied Mathematics (tie) - #34 in Computer Science (tie)
—#34 in Artificial Intelligence (tie) - #46 in Biological Sciences (tie)
- #58 in Biology (tie)
Law
- Penn State Law — #64 in Best Law Schools (tie)
- Penn State Dickinson Law — #58 in Best Law Schools (tie)
U.S. News “Best Online Programs” Rankings, 2022 – Penn State World Campus
Penn State World Campus ranked in these graduate degree disciplines and the overall bachelor’s degree programs category.
- #3 (tie), online graduate engineering
- #8 (tie), online graduate education
- #12 (tie), online graduate business (non-MBA)
- #13 (tie), online graduate computer IT
- #15 (tie), online MBA
- #16 (tie), online bachelor’s programs
Specific disciplines within the program categories were also ranked. The specialties rankings were based on ratings provided by peer institutions. Read more here.
In addition, U.S. News ranked “Best Online Programs for Veterans” in six categories, with Penn State’s online bachelor’s programs at:
- #3 (tie), online graduate engineering
- #5, online graduate business (non-MBA)
- #3, online graduate education
- #8, online computer IT
- #10 (tie), online MBA
- #11 (tie), online bachelor’s programs