Key points:
- Higher-ed leaders identified their top innovative U.S. schools
- 5 of the biggest trends in higher education
- Navigating the future of higher education: A graduate student’s perspective
- For more on higher-ed innovation, visit eCN’s Digital Innovation hub
Each year, U.S. News & World Report releases its annual college rankings list, and while much fanfare is paid to the overall rankings, smaller subsets deserve attention of their own–including the list of the most innovative U.S. colleges and universities.
The 2025 Best Colleges compilation continues to prioritize social mobility and post-graduate success. Serving as a guide for prospective students and their families, the national rankings evaluate nearly 1,500 colleges and universities using up to 17 measures of academic quality.
As the world evolves, durable workforce skills including problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity are prized among employers seeking workers who can adapt to the global workforce. Students, in turn, are seeking campuses that will help them position themselves as innovative learners and prospective employees.
In early and mid-2024, U.S. News asked top college officials to identify institutions in their Best Colleges ranking category that are making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology, or facilities.
The Most Innovative Schools rankings are based solely on the top academics’ responses to this question, which was a separate section of U.S. News’ annual peer assessment survey in 2024.
These rankings enable top college officials to spotlight schools that are making cutting-edge developments on their campuses. Some institutions that made the Most Innovative Schools lists may not place highly in the overall rankings or score at the top of the regular peer assessment survey.
The top 10 most innovative schools in 2024 are:
1. Arizona State University
2. Georgia Institute of Technology
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4. Carnegie Mellon University
5. Georgia State University
6. Stanford University
7. California Institute of Technology
8. Northeastern University
9. Purdue University–Main Campus
10. Johns Hopkins University
Explore the full list here.
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