Princeton has led the national university list for the 12th straight year.

The University of Chicago ranks sixth, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania are tied for the seventh position. California Institute of Technology, best known for its research and engineering programmes, ranks ninth and Northwestern University and Duke University are tied for the tenth position.

The top 5 ranks continue to be dominated by the same universities as the previous year.

Released Monday, the US News and World Report’s 38th annual report ranking the best colleges in the United States assessed 1500 US institutions granting undergraduate degrees.

Ranked colleges were grouped into four broad categories—National Universities, National Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities, and Regional colleges. The rankings are based on 17 parameters assessing academic quality, including graduation and retention rate, undergraduate academic reputation, and financial resources per student, among others.

This year certain factors for assigning ranks were altered—SAT/ACT calculation policy was changed because many students were unable to take the standardised test due to the pandemic or financial constraints. This year onwards, if less than 50 per cent of an institute’s newly admitted students submitted their scores, it would not be considered to calculate the institute’s rank. Instead, parameters like high school class standing and average graduation rate would be given a higher weightage.

Further, when calculating ‘faculty resources’, part-time faculty with a terminal degree would also be considered in addition to the full-time faculty previously assessed.