U.S. News & World Report names Jewell to 2026 Best Colleges

12/03/2025

After analyzing more than 1,700 colleges and universities, U.S. News and World Report named William Jewell College to its 2026 Best Colleges for academic quality and graduate success. Rankings are based on 17 factors such as graduation rates (including rates for first-generation and Pell students), first-year retention, financial resources, student-faculty ratio, borrower debt, standardized tests, faculty salaries and more.

Jewell is in the Regional Colleges category. In addition to being named an overall Best College, Jewell ranked in these categories:

• No. 11 Best Regional Colleges Midwest (tie). This region covers 12 states.
• No. 43 in Top Performers on Social Mobility (tie), Midwest colleges. This is based schools' success in advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of economically disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants.

Review the overall rankings and methodology, or learn more about Jewell's rankings.