Baylor holds firm as a top-50 private university, top-100 overall in new U.S. News rankings

Baylor once again stands among the nation’s top 50 private universities and top 100 national universities, according to new U.S. News rankings for 2026-27.

Baylor ranks No. 48 among private colleges and universities, and No. 90 among national universities (both public and private). For context, that puts BU at the top of the Big 12 for the third straight year, tied with TCU and ahead of Colorado (No. 109), BYU and Iowa State (tied at 116), and the rest of the conference. Baylor is again a top-five university in Texas, along with Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, SMU and TCU.

(It’s worth noting here how tight the overall rankings can be. This year, five schools are tied for 80th nationally, five more for 85th, another five at 90, and yet five more at 95. A point or two in the overall calculations — the margin of error of how these numbers change year to year — can easily mean a jump or drop of 10+ spots in the rankings. At a practical level, these schools are essentially tied.)

In other categories, Baylor again ranks among the nation’s 10 best universities when it comes to learning communities (ranked No. 3 nationally) and first-year experiences (No. 9 overall). Baylor also remains on the short list of schools in the top 40 for both undergraduate teaching (No. 25) and undergraduate research (No. 36), and is ranked among the best colleges for veterans (No. 58) and best value private universities (No. 81). Notable undergraduate academic programs include entrepreneurship (No. 11 nationally) and nursing (No. 36).

As we’ve frequently noted, such rankings don’t tell the whole story of what you get at Baylor — but when you look at the overall picture, you get one of the best college experiences in the country.

Sic ’em, Bears!