UF drops to No. 7 public university in U.S. News & World Report rankings – The Independent Florida Alligator

UF dropped to No. 7 among the nation’s public universities, according to the latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report.

This is the second year that UF is no longer in the Top 5 public universities in the country. In 2024, UF ranked No. 6 among public universities.

According to the updated ranking released Sept. 23, UF now ranks No. 30 among all national universities. Last year, the university ranked No. 28 overall.

The ranking included 436 universities across the country, 225 of them being public, 207 private and four being for-profit institutions. The data for the 2025 rankings were gathered during the spring and summer of 2024.

According to U.S. News, changes were made to its methodology from 2024 to determine the 2025 rankings. Noticeable changes include Pell graduation rates and Pell Grant graduation rate performance both weighing 5.5%.

The new ranking methodology also removed two factors relating to graduation rates and graduation rate performance of first-generation students due to limitations in the data.

“A college’s overall rank may change from one year to the next when its data varies either upward or downward on one or more measures of academic quality,” U.S. News wrote on its Frequently Asked Questions page. A school’s performance can also change if the performance of other schools improves or worsens.

U.S. News focused more on outcomes after graduation, such as social mobility, graduation and retention rates, and graduate earnings, which weigh 50% combined. The rankings no longer prioritize admissions data like acceptance rates and alumni giving rates as highly as the weight of the outcomes.

“The University of Florida is again among the top 10 public universities ranked by U.S. News & World Report, as we have been for the past seven years,” UF spokesperson Brittany Wise said.“ We will continue to provide an outstanding education, an excellent student experience and superior student outcomes as we support our incredible faculty and their world-class research.”