U.S. News & World Report puts UW-Eau Claire near top in region, state

UW-Eau Claire is ninth among 57 public regional universities in the 12-state Midwest region that includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

In its profile of UW-Eau Claire, U.S. News states, “The university has been recognized for its strong performance, being ranked among the top public regional institutions and in the top third of all regional institutions in the Midwest every year since 1995.” UW-Eau Claire’s 31-year run as one of the top public regional institutions in the country is a testament to the university’s commitment to excellence.

Overall, UW-Eau Claire is 25th out of 164 public and private regional schools in the Midwest.

“UW-Eau Claire’s continued ranking as a premier comprehensive regional university is due to the hard work and dedication of our outstanding faculty and staff who provide extraordinary educational experiences every day to our students,” UW-Eau Claire Interim Chancellor Michael Carney says. “The accomplishments of our students continue to enhance that well-earned reputation.”

For over 40 years, U.S. News rankings evaluate nearly 1,500 national colleges and universities. U.S. News gathered data during spring and summer 2025 from and about each school and used 13 key measures of academic quality to produce the rankings for regional universities. U.S. News puts an emphasis on outcomes, evidenced by measures of graduation and retention being the most heavily weighted factors in the rankings.

In addition to remaining ranked for several undergraduate programs the survey highlighted, UW-Eau Claire is the top-rated UW school in the Best Colleges for Veterans-Midwest Region rankings, listed 13th, followed by UW-Whitewater in the 15th spot.

UW-Eau Claire is ranked among the top performing school programs in several categories, including undergraduate teaching, undergraduate business, computer science, undergraduate engineering, nursing and psychology.

Interim Provost Mary Hoffman is pleased to see the recognition of undergraduate teaching programs, a bedrock program of the university since its establishment in 1916, now evolved to best prepare 21st-century teachers.  

"UW-Eau Claire's strong ranking for teaching undergraduate programs reflects the commitment of faculty and staff to student learning and success. Intentionally designed programs and innovative learning activities create a combination of high expectations and strong teaching and support to help students meet those expectations," Hoffman says. 

UW-Eau Claire is on the U.S. News list for “Top Performers on Social Mobility,” which measures how well schools graduated economically disadvantaged students, and the university is still among the “2026 Best Value Colleges,” for which U.S. News factors academic quality and cost after accounting for total expenses and financial aid.

UW-Eau Claire has recently been ranked highly by the Princeton Review’s 2026 Best Colleges: Region by Region and Forbes 2025-26 Top Colleges editions.