If you or a loved one are planning to go to college in the next year, the DMV has plenty of great options.
Nine schools from D.C., Maryland and Virginia made it into the top 100 schools in the United States, according to the annual U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges list for 2026.
One, in Maryland, even made it into the top 10: Johns Hopkins University tied with three other schools for seventh place on the list, which considers it even with Duke, Northwestern and University of Pennsylvania.
More schools from around D.C., Maryland and Virginia are scattered through the top 100.
Georgetown University in D.C. came in at number 24 (alongside Emory University), while the University of Virginia came in at number 26 (alongside University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill).
University of Maryland, College Park was ranked 42, tied with Boston University and Rutgers.
See the full list of the top 100 in the table below. The highlighted schools are those in D.C., Maryland and Virginia among the top 50.
The 2026 U.S. News and World Report rankings looked at “more than 1,700 U.S. colleges and universities, using up to 17 factors to measure academic quality and graduate success,” the outlet said.
To be included in the survey, the schools must:
- Grant bachelor’s degrees
- Hold regional accreditation
- Offer traditional campus-based education
- Actively accept new applicants for first-year, full-time students
- Offer a broad curriculum under the 2021 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education’s Basic Classification system (a system categorizing colleges by mission and degree offerings)
- Enroll at least 100 undergraduates
- Report a six-year bachelor’s graduation rate for an entering cohort of at least 25 first-time, full-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students
The outlet also cautioned that while their rankings “offer a data-driven foundation for college research … the best school for you is one that aligns with your goals and values.”
You can learn more about the survey’s methodology here.
U.S. News and World Report also has a list of the best National Liberal Arts Colleges, which also featured a couple of Maryland and Virginia options.
In Maryland, the U.S. Naval Academy was ranked third on the Liberal Arts list.
In Virginia, Washington and Lee was ranked 21 on the Liberal Arts list, while University of Richmond was ranked 22.
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