ECU ranks among the best in North Carolina and nationwide
Outcome-focused
ECU is among the top 500 universities in the country named the 2025 Best Colleges in a new Wall Street Journal/College Pulse ranking. ECU is in the top half of 13 N.C. schools listed. ECU ranks 222nd overall, including No. 87 for social mobility. ECU shines in categories related to student experience and outcomes including graduation rates, learning opportunities, career preparation, character development, and salary impact, which is the extent to which a college boosts it graduates’ salaries beyond what they would be expected to earn regardless of what college they attended. Student outcomes were weighted at 70% in the ranking. More information can be found on the Wall Street Journal website.
East Carolina University is fourth in North Carolina for best public schools and seventh overall in the state in national universities in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Colleges rankings released today.
ECU students Lauren Aponte, left, and Lynoshka Padilla walk on campus. (Photo by Rhett Butler)
To rank colleges, U.S. News categorizes schools based on mission, and calculates rankings separately for national universities, national liberal arts colleges, regional universities and regional colleges. Data is gathered from and about each school in 17 areas related to academic excellence. Each ranking factor is assigned a weight, and colleges are ranked based on overall scores.
Among national universities, ECU was No. 189 out of 434 institutions ranked. ECU was No. 103 out of 225 ranked in the Top Public Schools – National Universities.
ECU placed fourth in the UNC System as a Best Value School and was recognized as a top performer on social mobility. Best Value Schools are those that, according to U.S. News, are above average academically and cost considerably less than many other schools when financial aid, scholarships and grants are considered.
The social mobility ranking assesses how well schools graduate economically disadvantaged students, including factoring in the graduation rates of Pell-awarded students. ECU was No. 98 out of 433 national universities for social mobility.
In the Best Colleges for Veterans category, ECU was No. 134 nationally. To achieve this recognition, schools must be ranked in the top half in a Best Colleges category, must be certified for the GI Bill, and participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program or be a public institution. The ranking is based on enrollment and benefits for veterans and active-duty service members.
U.S. News changed its methodology this year, eliminating two factors in which ECU traditionally performs well: first-generation graduation rate and first-generation graduate performance.
These combined factors had accounted for 5% of the ranking formula, which was reallocated to social mobility for Pell graduation rate and Pell graduation performance.
The following ECU programs were rated by peer review only and among the best nationally:
- No. 74 in undergraduate nursing;
- No. 94 in undergraduate engineering (non-doctorate);
- No. 222 best undergraduate business;
- No. 229 best undergraduate psychology;
- No. 240 in economics;
- No. 256 in computer science.
More information about the rankings
ECU Institutional Planning, Assessment and Research contributed to this story.