This is the best college in Oregon for 2026, report finds

(NEXSTAR) – As high school seniors across the country start their final year before graduation, Niche.com released its annual ranking of the best U.S. colleges and universities for 2026.

The Pittsburgh-based education research platform says the rankings are designed to “help students identify institutions that best match their academic goals, personal values, budgets, and campus preferences.”

MIT, located in Cambridge, Mass., was the highest ranked school in the study, with Niche giving it the highest possible scores for academics, diversity and value.

See the Top 25 schools below:

Rank	College Name	State
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA
2	Yale University	CT
3	Stanford University	CA
4	Harvard University	MA
5	Dartmouth College	NH
6	Columbia University	NY
7	Vanderbilt University	TN
8	Princeton University	NJ
9	California Institute of Technology	CA
10	Rice University	TX
11	Brown University	RI
12	University of Pennsylvania	PA
13	Washington University in St. Louis	MO
14	Duke University	NC
15	Carnegie Mellon University	PA
16	Harvey Mudd College	CA
17	Georgetown University	DC
18	University of Chicago	IL
19	University of Michigan Ann Arbor	MI
20	University of California Los Angeles	CA
21	Cornell University	NY
22	Northwestern University	IL
23	Claremont McKenna College	CA
24	Johns Hopkins University	MD
25	University of Notre Dame	IN

Oregon State University was ranked 139th on the list, followed by Reed College in Portland, coming in at No. 140.

The University of Portland was listed at No. 347, followed by Warner Pacific at No. 352 and the University of Oregon at No. 392.

See the full ranking on the Niche.com site.

The methodology behind the ranking includes data from the Department of Education and National Science Foundation; enrollment, graduation and alumni earning statistics; tuition and financial aid information; and more than 1 million reviews from students and alumni, according to Niche.

See the company’s website for more information.