Five Long Island colleges, three in Nassau County, have been ranked among the best universities in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
The media company released its 2026 Best National Universities Rankings on Tuesday, Sept. 23, evaluating 1,700 schools using 17 key measures of academic quality.
In the “National Universities” category, which lists 4343 colleges, Stony Brook University was listed at 59, Touro University, which has two Long Island locations despite being based in New York City, was listed at 143, Hofstra University in Hempstead was listed at 183, Adelphi University in Garden City was listed at 198 and Long Island University in Brookville was listed at 373.
U.S. News & World Report said the rankings are created using a formula involving many indicators of a university’s success, including graduation rates (16%), first-year retention rates (5%), graduation rate performance (10%), pell graduation rates (5.5%), pell graduation performance (5.5%), college grads earning more than a high school grad (5%), borrower debt (5%), peer assessment (20%), financial resources per student (8%), faculty salaries (6%), full-time faculty (2%), student-faculty ratio (3%), standardized tests (5%), citations per publication (1.25%), field-weighted citation impact (1.25%), publication share in the top 5% of journals by Citescore (1%) and publication share in the top 25% of journals by Citescore (0.5%).
Local school officials praised their universities for their spots on the list.
Adelphi interim President Chris Storm said the school is proud of its commitment to personalized learning and student success continues to grow.
“This recognition underscores the strength of Adelphi’s academic programs, especially in nursing, where we are meeting one of the country’s most pressing workforce needs,” he said.
Hofstra President Susan Poser said the school, which also ranked in the top 100 for “best value,” is a testament to its growth.
“Rankings are notoriously fickle, but we are pleased that they are beginning to reflect Hofstra’s investment in growing and strengthening its academic programs and its unwavering commitment to supporting all students and creating pathways to rewarding careers,” she said.
Cornell University in Ithaca was the highest-ranking school in the state, coming in as the 12th-best college. Princeton University in New Jersey was at the top of the list.
