Wall Street Journal Ranks Bentley University #12 College in the U.S.

Bentley University now ranks as the 12th best college in the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal’s 2026 Best U.S. Colleges rankings. The annual rankings evaluated 584 eligible U.S. universities.

Just ahead of Bentley in The Journal’s rankings is Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at number 11, placing Bentley among elite company. Others in the top 10 include top-tier universities like Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Harvard and Columbia. 

Of note, Bentley also ranked ahead of globally recognized powerhouse schools like Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth and the University of Chicago, all of which ranked in the top 50.

Using a data-driven approach, The Journal’s rankings were developed and completed in collaboration with renowned research partners, College Pulse and Statista.

What Makes Bentley’s Wall Street Journal Ranking Such a Big Deal

September is rankings season for colleges and universities across the United States. Publications typically launch their rankings around the start of the academic year for several reasons, but perhaps most notably: This is when most high school juniors and seniors are researching, considering and applying to universities.

As part of the search process, rankings serve as an essential research tool for future undergraduates looking to find the university best suited for them, their interests, their skills and more. According to the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, “high schoolers consistently tell pollsters that what they want most out of college is a good job that will help them earn more money.”

The Wall Street Journal’s rankings are particularly focused on student outcomes, which account for 70% of their ranking criteria. While rankings in other publications may emphasize a university’s prestige or brand recognition, or put extra emphasis on higher education polling, The Journal attempts to distill what happens to students after they graduate.

In other words: How does a college investment impact a student’s future financial success? Within its student-outcome category, The Journal considers:

• Salary Impact:

  How a college boosts its graduates’ salaries beyond what they would otherwise expect to earn regardless of the college they attended.

• Graduation Rate: 

  How a college performs in ensuring its students complete their degree program and graduate.

• Years to Pay Off Net Price: 

  How quickly a college education pays for itself — calculated by dividing the net cost of a four-year degree by the salary increase it yields over a high school diploma. 

Also considered in The Journal’s rankings are a school’s overall learning environment, which accounts for 20% of the ranking, and diversity, which accounts for the remaining 10%.

A September to Remember

The Journal’s rankings are just the latest in a series of rankings released this summer and fall. In August, Bentley also ranked highly in LinkedIn’s inaugural college rankings, coming in at #15 in the U.S. on its list of colleges that best set graduates up for long-term success. Additionally, Bentley placed #1 for highest job placement in financial services.

For the third year in a row, Bentley’s Career Services rank #1 in the country by The Princeton Review. This marks the 13th consecutive year that Bentley’s Pulsifer Career Development Center ranked among the top five in the U.S. 

Bentley also placed among the elite universities in U.S. News and World Report’s 2026 College Rankings:

• #1 Best University in the Region (North)
• #4 Best Value University in the Region (North)
• #2 Most Innovative University in the Region (North)

Earlier in the year, Bentley was named #8 in the country for return on investment, ahead of Harvard, Yale, Duke and Georgetown. Across all publications and ranking categories one thing remains clear: Bentley has secured itself as one of the top schools in the nation.