The 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings released Sept. 24 list UW-Eau Claire fourth among 57 public regional universities in the 12-state Midwest region. Overall, UW-Eau Claire is 20th out of 165 public and private regional schools in the Midwest, up one spot from the previous year.
“For 30 straight years, U.S. News & World Report has recognized UW-Eau Claire as one of the top public universities in the Midwest,” Chancellor James Schmidt says. “This honor is more evidence that UW-Eau Claire is one of the premier comprehensive regional universities in the country, and we continue to build on our tradition of excellence by offering our students a distinctive, world-class educational experience.”
Now in its 40th year, U.S. News rankings evaluate nearly 1,500 national colleges and universities. U.S. News gathered data during spring and summer 2024 from and about each school, then used 13 key measures of academic quality to produce the rankings for regional universities. U.S. News puts an emphasis on outcomes, evidenced by measures of graduation and retention being the most heavily weighted factors in the rankings.
UW-Eau Claire is ranked highly again as a “Best College for Veterans” and a “Best Value School.” The university also is ranked as a “Top Performer on Social Mobility” and several UW-Eau Claire undergraduate programs were listed in the rankings.
“The U.S. News & World Report rankings show prospective students and families the positive outcomes produced by our high-quality academic programs,” says Billy Felz, vice chancellor for enrollment management. “Blugolds receive an extraordinary education at an affordable cost, so they leave the university with manageable debt and a valuable degree that provides high salaries in their first jobs.”
UW-Eau Claire is ranked eighth among the best regional colleges for veterans in the Midwest, and the highest-ranking public university in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The rankings provide data on schools that make pursuing a college education more affordable for veterans and active-duty service members.
In the “Best Value School” category, UW-Eau Claire is the highest rated public regional university in the state, and ranked No. 39 out of all regional universities in the Midwest. To determine value, U.S. News factors academic quality and cost after accounting for total expenses and financial aid.
UW-Eau Claire is on the U.S. News list for “Top Performers on Social Mobility,” which measures how well schools graduated economically disadvantaged students.
The university’s undergraduate business program rose significantly in the rankings while U.S. News also recognized UW-Eau Claire’s undergraduate programs in computer science, engineering, nursing and psychology.
UW-Eau Claire has been included on several other national rankings in the past two months, including Money’s 2024 Best Colleges in America, Princeton Review’s 2025 Best Colleges: Region by Region, Forbes 2024-25 Top Colleges and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse 2025 Best Colleges.
