LOWELL — U.S. Information & World Report’s 2026 nationwide rankings of high faculties and universities once more this yr give excessive marks to UMass Lowell for the schooling and financial worth it supplies to college students.
The media outlet, finest identified for shopper recommendation and information evaluation, locations UMass Lowell at No. 11 in Massachusetts for its “Best Colleges” rating of higher-educational establishments outlined as nationwide universities. Such establishments supply a full vary of undergraduate, grasp’s and doctoral applications and produce groundbreaking analysis.
U.S. Information additionally lists UMass Lowell because the No. 1 “best value school” within the Bay State and No. 92 within the nation, up 105 spots from final yr.
“UMass Lowell delivers a world-class education that is accessible and affordable while helping students succeed today and throughout their careers. We’re proud to be No. 1 among ‘best value schools’ in Massachusetts and No. 92 in the U.S. — rankings that reflect our strong return on investment and emphasis on career-connected experience,” stated UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen.
The rankings come simply months after UMass Lowell was named a Carnegie Analysis 1 college, a prestigious designation used to determine the nation’s high analysis establishments.
In acknowledging the college’s management in scholarship and financial worth, the rankings additionally replicate UMass Lowell’s dedication to the area’s financial vitality by way of the Lowell Innovation Community Hall. Now underway, the initiative envisions a 1.2-million square-foot mixed-use growth on and past UMass Lowell’s campus that features workplaces and analysis labs, housing, retail companies and leisure locations. The ecosystem is offering UMass Lowell college students with paid profession experiences at LINC member organizations.
For its 2026 assessments, U.S. Information & World Report evaluated practically 1,700 higher-education establishments. To find out UMass Lowell’s place on the Greatest Schools listing, the media outlet used 17 key measures of educational high quality together with scholar retention and commencement charges, monetary assets supplied per scholar, college to scholar ratio, variety of full-time college and quantity of printed analysis.
To find out the “best value” rating, the outlet moreover examined the 2024-2025 web price of attendance for an out-of-state scholar who acquired the common degree of need-based scholarship or grant support. The upper the standard of this system and the decrease the associated fee, the higher the deal. Solely faculties ranked in or close to the high half of their classes are included, as U.S. Information considers probably the most important values to be amongst faculties which might be above common academically, in line with the media outlet.
