Schools
These Are The Best Colleges In MI For 2025, Wall Street Journal Says
Sixteen institutions in Michigan are among the 500 best public and private colleges and universities in the country, according to the WSJ.
MICHIGAN — Sixteen institutions in Michigan are among the 500 best public and private colleges and universities in the country, according to the 2025 rankings from The Wall Street Journal.
Michigan’s top school is the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, a public institution in Ann Arbor, according to The WSJ/College Pulse 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. ranking. Fifteen other Michigan colleges made the list (see below).
The Wall Street Journal noted that in the ranking, half of the colleges in the top 50 are new to the list. But the top ranked school remained unchanged from the previous ranking.
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New Jersey’s Princeton University, a four-year Ivy League private school known for its rigorous academic standards and selectivity in admissions, topped the ranking for the second year in a row.
“Our ranking measures how well each college sets graduates up for financial success. We look at how much a school improves students’ chances of graduating and their future earnings, balancing these outcomes with feedback from students on college life,” The Journal wrote. “We don’t measure reputation, nor the college’s own finances.”
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Schools in the top 50 from Michigan are:
No. 22 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, Public
No. 43 University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, Private
Other Michigan colleges in the full ranking are:
No. 54 Albion College, Albion, Private
No. 60 Michigan State University, East Lansing, Public
No. 135 Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Private
No. 146 Michigan Technological University, Houghton County, Public
No. 180 Kettering University, Flint, Private
No. 226 Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Public
No. 245 Oakland University, Auburn Hills/Rochester Hills, Public
No. 287 Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Public
No. 291 University of Michigan, Dearborn, Dearborn, Public
No. 383 Wayne State University, Detroit, Public
No. 410 Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Public
No. 420 Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Public
No. 422 Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Private
No. 443 Cornerstone University, Grand Rapids, Private
The Journal said public schools are prominent among colleges that moved up in the rankings. Two are in the top 10 — the University of California, Berkeley at No. 8, and the Georgia Institute of Technology at No. 9. Last year, there were no public schools in the top 10.
The Journal developed the ranking in collaboration with research partners College Pulse and Statista.
Read more on the methodology and findings on The Wall Street Journal.
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