The University of St. Thomas is once again ranked as No. 1 “Best Value” in Minnesota, according to the latest Best Colleges rankings from U.S. News & World Report. Minnesota’s largest private university maintained its standing among the country’s top 20 Catholic universities on the annual report’s list of national institutions.
Among all institutions, St. Thomas is tied with six universities for No. 160 in the Best National Universities category. Among national Catholic universities, St. Thomas is ranked No. 13 (up three spots from a year ago) on the Best Value list.
To be a top Best Value school, U.S. News & World Report takes into account a school’s academic quality, as indicated by its 2024 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking, and the 2022-23 net cost of attendance for an out-of-state student who received the average level of need-based financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically.
Several of St. Thomas undergraduate programs are well ranked.
- Engineering is ranked among the top 50 for the 10th straight year, moving up five spots to No. 30. Engineering is also No. 1 in Minnesota among programs with no doctoral program.
- The Opus College of Business’ undergraduate program moved up 31 spots to No. 159.
- New to this year’s rankings among St. Thomas programs were Psychology (entering at No. 203) and Economics (No. 240).
- St. Thomas’ Computer Science program was also once again nationally ranked.
Additionally, St. Thomas was listed No. 110 among all colleges and universities as a Best College for Veterans, and No. 10 in that category compared to other Catholic institutions.
The University of St. Thomas is also listed as one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduates, according to The Princeton Review’s annual college guide, The Best 389 Colleges: 2024 Edition. On that list, the university also was featured in several subcategories, including ranking No. 14 in the “Green Matters: Everyone Cares About Conservation” category and No. 17 in the “Best-Run Colleges” category.