BYU, University of Utah both crack Forbes' Top 100 list of premiere colleges

SALT LAKE CITY — College basketball season is in its Final Four homestretch — and college football season is still months away.

But college rankings apparently know no seasons.

Several Utah universities are included in Forbes' recent annual list showcasing 500 schools "that produce successful, high-earning and influential graduates" from all economic backgrounds, with less student debt.

And what would a college rankings list be without tossing in a "BYU vs. Utah" wrinkle?

Both Beehive State-based universities — one a private institution (BYU), the other a public school (University of Utah) — cracked Forbes' recent Top 100 list.

BYU came in at No. 36, while the University of Utah is ranked 94th.

For BYU, the Forbes recognition is just one of many for the Provo-based school over the past year.

BYU landed the top spot in the 2025 WSJ/College Pulse Best College rankings for colleges most highly recommended by students and recent alums. The ranking assessed the extent to which students would recommend BYU to a friend and whether they would choose BYU again if they could start over, according to the university.

Meanwhile, leadership at the state's flagship public university said the Forbes' recognition is evidence of a school on the rise.

"We appreciate this recognition from Forbes," said University of Utah President Taylor Randall. "It's confirmation of what we already know about the University of Utah. We are constantly improving — innovating the student experience, accelerating discovery to impact lives, providing exceptional health care.

"The University of Utah just has this willingness to try new things like no other place. That is our strength. We are entrepreneurial, thinking outside the box, trying to be different from other institutions."

And two other Utah higher education institutions — Utah State University and Weber State University — were included in Forbes' list of 500 high-performing American colleges: Utah State came in at No. 237, Weber State at No. 461.

Forbes' List: Princeton snags top spot

For the second year in a row, Princeton University snatched Forbes' No. 1 spot, according to the online magazine, "by acing all 14 metrics Forbes uses to determine which 500 American colleges offer the best educational, financial and career outcomes for all students."

The other schools on Forbes' top 10 list are traditionally counted among the nation's educational institution heavyweights: Stanford, MIT, Yale, Cal-Berkeley, Columbia, Penn, Harvard, Rice and Cornell.

All institutions on the magazine's top 10 list are private schools, with the exception of Cal-Berkeley.

Also noted by Forbes: "At a time when applications to historically Black colleges and universities are surging and diversity efforts at some state universities are being cut back, six HBCUs earned spots in the top 500, up from three last year."

The magazine did not consider schools' acceptance rates in its rankings, but they did include an interesting caveat: While prestigious schools such as Princeton, Stanford and MIT have sub-10% admission rates — 38 of the top 100 schools admit more than 30% of applicants, and 16 of them admit 50% or more.

"In other words," the article noted, "these are great schools with less admissions stress."

BYU and the University of Utah both have reported acceptance rates above 50%.

Forbes' ranking methodology

To create its college rankings of America's Top Colleges, Forbes began with a list of thousands of U.S. colleges that educate undergraduates according to their Carnegie Classification — a higher education framework that categorizes institutions based on the types of degrees they offer, their research output and specialty focus.

The magazine chose doctoral research universities, master's universities and colleges and baccalaureate colleges — as well as colleges that offered specialized programs in engineering, business and art.

Forbes then evaluated schools using data from two federal education databases (the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and College Scorecard); the Seattle-based software and data company Payscale; the Washington, D.C.-based public policy think tank Third Way; the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics; and some of Forbes' own lists.

The nation's five service academies were excluded from the magazine's consideration because "they operate very differently from the other institutions on the list."

Key quality factors such as graduation rates, a degree's return on investment and retention rates were also considered.

Utah schools highlighted in Forbes' list

The online magazine noted that BYU is a private research university that offers nearly 200 undergraduate majors — with the most popular ones including computer science and psychology.

Sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU received an "A+" financial grade by Forbes — noting that the school's average grant aid is $6,325 and median 10-year-salary is $133,900.

Forbes highlighted the University of Utah as a public research university that offers students approximately 400 clubs and student organizations.

The school's average grant aid, according to Forbes, is $9,696 with a median 10-year-salary of $125,900.

Utah State, noted Forbes, began as an agricultural college and now enrolls more than 25,000 students. The school's reported average grant aid is $9,808.

Forbes highlighted Weber State's flexible programs serving both traditional and nontraditional students, with more than 100 undergraduate programs across seven schools.

Weber State's average grant aid, reported Forbes, is $5,831.

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