Georgia’s two public flagships for higher education placed in the top 100 again, along with Emory University, in the annual U.S. News rankings for 2026.
The Georgia Institute of Technology moved up a spot to 32nd. The University of Georgia remained at 46th and Emory at 24th.
All three were tied with others in the publication’s rankings for national universities published Tuesday.
Emory held the same spot as Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., another private institution.
Tech ranked alongside two public universities in California and the private New York University. UGA tied with four others (three private and one public).
The scoring is based on up to 17 factors, including graduation rates, first-year retention rates, faculty salaries, and post-graduation earnings.
U.S. News offers more granular scoring for specific areas of study.
Emory’s nursing school ranked second, behind Duke University’s. Tech’s environmental and industrial programs both ranked No. 1, and its biomedical school was tied for the top spot with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. UGA’s insurance program secured the top spot.
Tech’s undergraduate engineering programs ranked third overall, behind the top-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology and second-place Stanford University. Both of those schools are private. Tech tied for third with the University of California, Berkeley, another public institution.
Price is an essential consideration for many.
Tech and UGA each charge in-state students just over $10,000 a year for tuition and fees and triple that for students from outside Georgia, the publication reported. Emory’s sticker price is nearly $70,000.