U.S. News Ranking Statistics
For the second year in a row, Kenyon has remained at its lowest ranking in three decades in U.S. News & World Report’s latest rankings, placing 45th among national liberal arts colleges — a significant decline from its peak of 25th place in 2016.
The ranking decline has created an awkward paradox. Many in the Kenyon community believe the College deserves to be considered among the nation’s elite liberal arts institutions, on par with schools like Middlebury College, Bowdoin College or Carleton College. But the ranking suggests otherwise, and schools Kenyon considers peers, like Denison University, now rank higher.
“I definitely noticed it when I was applying,” said Juliette Leclerc ’27, who works as an admissions intern. “People at my high school placed a lot of value in and spent so much time thinking about college rankings.”
The disconnect between Kenyon’s self-assessment and its measured performance raises questions about whether the College is being honest about its challenges or whether the rankings are simply measuring the wrong things.
U.S. News bases its rankings on 17 metrics of academic quality, grouped into eight categories. Outcomes — including graduation rates, graduate debt and social mobility — account for 22% of a school’s score. Faculty resources, which include class size and faculty compensation, make up another 17%. Financial resources per student carry 10% of the weight, while the percentage of classes with fewer than 20 students accounts for 6%. Academic reputation, based on surveys of college presidents, provosts and admissions deans, represents 20% of the total score.
The methodology has shifted repeatedly over the years, with U.S. News adjusting weightings and adding new metrics. This year’s formula differs from the one used when Kenyon ranked 25th in 2016.
College administrators point to one primary factor driving these rankings, regardless of exact metrics: wealth. Williams College, consistently ranked first among liberal arts colleges, has an endowment of $3.3 billion. Kenyon’s sits around $635 million.
“So the things that might drive those rankings, we would do, but we’re limited in the resources that we have,” Vice President for Advancement Keith DiDonato said. “If you go to Williams, they can, for example, offer students more financial aid than we can.”
He also explained that the College’s relatively modest endowment is partly a result of limited alumni support. Kenyon’s alumni giving rate sits at just 23-24% — well below the 30% threshold administrators say they need.
College administrators acknowledge the rankings matter for recruitment, but insist they don’t reflect the institution’s priorities, such as small class sizes, the campus environment and close student-faculty relationships.
Molly Gutridge, director of donor engagement, said that alumni “largely do not” bring up rankings and “don’t agree with the rankings or the methodology” when they do. “I think the great thing about Kenyon is that it is the number one college in the hearts of over 20,000 alumni and I’m not sure how you measure that,” she said.
Despite their skepticism about the value of these types of rankings, administrators are paying attention. DiDonato said rankings are discussed at the leadership level: “While it’s not the driver of our work, we have to take into consideration that families are looking at rankings.”
“If prospective students ask why we’re ranked below Denison, there’s not really a good answer,” Hyun Cho ’26, an admissions intern, said. “We can’t say, ‘Our education is just as good,’ and then also say, ‘We don’t have the resources to compete.’ Those things kind of contradict each other.”
Kenyon continues to submit data to U.S. News through its institutional research team. U.S. News claims at least 100 million users annually visit its education website, and schools often purchase data and marketing services that generate millions in annual revenue for the publisher.