Villanova University climbed 15 spots to No. 42 in the U.S. News & World Report 2027 Best Colleges rankings, released Tuesday, Sept. 22.

The Radnor Township university had ranked No. 57 in the 2026 edition. Villanova tied with Northeastern University for the 42nd spot this year, according to PhillyVoice. The school also placed No. 29 among Top Private Colleges and No. 63 in the Best Value category.

The jump comes with a caveat. U.S. News itself said the 2027 rankings "cannot be directly compared to prior years" because of significant methodology changes. About 20 percent of previously ranked institutions moved to new categories this year. The publication also expanded eligibility requirements, allowing more universities focused on business, engineering and health to be ranked for the first time.

One major formula change: U.S. News replaced its graduate indebtedness factor with a new "earnings by major" metric, worth 5 percent of a school's total score, that measures what graduates earn four years after finishing school using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data. Student outcomes now make up more than half of a school's overall score, including graduation rates, social mobility for low-income students and post-graduate earnings.

The methodology shake-up reshuffled the top of the list, too. MIT took the No. 1 spot, ending Princeton's 15-year run atop the rankings.

LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News, said the methodology shift responds to growing pressure from families weighing college costs against earnings. "…our goal is to provide clear, actionable data," Jones said in a statement.

The 42nd edition of the rankings evaluated nearly 1,700 colleges using up to 17 measures of academic quality.

Closer to home, Swarthmore College in Delaware County ranked No. 3 among national liberal arts colleges, tied with Bowdoin College, Claremont McKenna College, Pomona College and the United States Naval Academy. The University of Pennsylvania held steady at No. 7 nationally for the second straight year. Drexel University rose four spots to No. 80.

The full 2027 rankings are available on the U.S. News Best Colleges page.