Princeton’s 15-year run as the nation’s top college is over. MIT is now No. 1.

Princeton University's uninterrupted run as the top college in the U.S. came to an end in the latest U.S. News rankings. After holding the No. 1 position for 15 consecutive years, Princeton was replaced at the top by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

U.S. News revised its methodology for the current rankings cycle. The new approach places more emphasis on measures linked to alumni earnings, which benefited institutions whose graduates tend to have higher salaries.

Those methodological adjustments shifted the composition of the very top of the list, elevating MIT to the top spot while ending Princeton's long tenure. The change highlights how ranking formulas can materially affect colleges' positions, especially when weighting favors post-graduate financial outcomes.

Observers say the update underscores the influence that ranking criteria have on perceptions of institutional performance, since schools that excel under one set of metrics can fall back under another. In this case, greater weight on graduate earnings favored institutions with relatively higher alumni pay, producing the new ordering at the top of the U.S. News list.