For the second consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report rated Wabash College as the top liberal arts college in Indiana.
The College’s profile improved markedly in the 2027 Best Colleges rankings, which were released Tuesday. Wabash is ranked 41st in the Top Private Colleges listing (a new ranking in 2027) and 44th among the Best National Liberal Arts Colleges.
Wabash rose six spots on the national liberal arts colleges list over the 2026 rankings.
Wabash is ranked 30th nationally by U.S. News as a Best Value School, a measure of both academic quality and cost, which is a five-spot improvement over last year’s rankings. Wabash is ranked 51st on the Top Performers on Social Mobility list, a figure that is also the best in the state. U.S. News said that Wabash is “more successful than others at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of Pell Grant recipients.”
“Much of what drives these rankings is our commitment recruiting, retaining, and graduating young men of promise,” said Wabash President Scott Feller. “Ours is a student-focused campus and our faculty, staff, and alumni work together to support the success of our students. The results are strong retention and four-year graduation rates for our young men that are significantly higher than our peers.”
The U.S. News rankings are based on a weighted breakdown of the following criteria: peer assessments (20%), graduation rates (16%), predicted graduation rate (10%), faculty salaries (8%), financial resources (8%), Pell Grant graduation rates (5.5%), Pell Grant graduation performance (5.5%), first-year retention rates (5%), earnings by major (5%), earning potential vs. a high school diploma (5%), standardized tests (5%), student-faculty ratio (4%), and full-time faculty (3%).
Inclusion in U.S. News’ college ratings continue another strong rankings season for the 194-year-old liberal arts institution. The Princeton Review named Wabash as one of its top 392 colleges for 2027 and ranked the College in 42% of its 50 ranking lists, including 11 top 10 citations. Further, Niche.com has rated Wabash as the top liberal arts college in Indiana for two years running.
