BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech was ranked and tied for No. 51 overall in the National Universities class and tied for No. 21 among Top Public Schools in the National Universities class in the U.S. News & World Report 2026 Best Colleges rankings, which were released Tuesday.
U.S. News & World Report ranks bachelor’s degree-granting institutions in the United States annually.
The publication divided its rankings of more than 1,400 schools by divisions of National Universities, Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities, and Regional Colleges.
The publication uses 19 measures of academic quality in the Top Public Schools category, including graduation rates, retention rates, affordability, value of the degree after graduation, and other statistics.
Virginia Tech’s No. 51 overall ranking in the National Universities class is among both public and private universities.
The College of Engineering continued to lead the way for the university in national and global rankings in large part because of research that continues to gain worldwide recognition. Other colleges, including the Pamplin College of Business and programs within the College of Science, fared well, too.
In addition, the university came in tied for No. 26 in the Most Innovative Schools category. The university also ranked No. 22 nationally in the Learning communities category.