In the 2020 U.S. News & World Report college rankings, the top 25 national universities were as follows:
- Princeton University
- Harvard University
- Columbia University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Yale University
- Stanford University
- University of Chicago
- University of Pennsylvania
- Northwestern University
- Duke University
- Johns Hopkins University
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
- Dartmouth College
- Brown University
- University of Notre Dame
- Vanderbilt University
- Rice University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Cornell University
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
- Emory University
- University of California, Berkeley
- Georgetown University
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- University of Southern California (USC)
Note: Some ranks are shared due to ties.
These rankings reflect the assessments and data available at that time. For a comprehensive view of how university rankings have evolved over the years, you might find this video informative:
