U.S. News & World Report ranks university #1 for Teaching

Education

Sep 26

U.S. News & World Report released its 2025 Best Colleges Guidebook and lists Calvin University as the best university for undergraduate Teaching and as the second most innovative school in its Regional Universities Midwest category.

“While our professors are leading scholars in their fields, they take seriously their number one priority of equipping students for not only their first job, but also preparing them for a lifetime of service to God’s kingdom in every sector and sphere of society,” said Greg Elzinga, interim president. “So, it is validating to have that long-held commitment to innovative Teaching validated by a well-respected industry evaluator like U.S. News & World Report.”

The digital news and information company released the report online today, which helps prospective students and their families evaluate 1,500 U.S. four-year bachelor’s degree-granting colleges and universities based on up to 19 measures of academic quality and graduate outcomes. These include such things as first-year retention rates, graduation

rates, strength of faculty, and graduate indebtedness.

Calvin University moved up in several categories from 2024 to 2025, while maintaining its fourth overall ranking. Among universities in the Regional Universities (Midwest) category, Calvin ranks first in Best Undergraduate Teaching, second in Most Innovative Schools, fourth Overall, and sixteenth for Best Value.

In addition, the university’s engineering program is in the Top 50 of the “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs” list (#44), which considers all non-doctorate-granting institutions. This past summer, the Fiske Guide to Colleges shortlisted Calvin’s engineering program as one of 16 institutions in its “Small Colleges and Universities Strong in Engineering” category. This past spring, USA Today highlighted a class project at Calvin that led engineering students to discover a pathway for the university to move its carbon neutrality target date up to nearly a quarter century.