Report Ranks Calvin #1 for Teaching, No. 2 for Innovation

U.S. News & World Report released its Best Colleges 2025 Guidebook recently, listing Calvin University as the best university for undergraduate teaching and as the second most innovative school in its Regional Universities Midwest category.

“While our professors are leading scholars in their fields, they take seriously their number-one priority of equipping students for not only their first job but also for preparing them for a lifetime of service to God’s kingdom in every sector and sphere of society,” said Greg Elzinga, interim president. “So it is validating to have that long-held commitment to innovative teaching validated by a well-respected industry evaluator like U.S. News & World Report.” 

On Sept. 24 the digital news and information company released the report, which helps prospective students and their families evaluate 1,500 U.S. four-year bachelor’s degree-granting colleges and universities based on up to 19 measures of academic quality and graduate outcomes. These include markers such as first-year retention rates, graduation rates, strength of faculty, and graduate indebtedness. 

Calvin University moved up in several categories from 2024 to 2025 while maintaining its fourth overall ranking. Among universities in the Regional Universities Midwest category, Calvin ranks as follows: 

       #1 in Best Undergraduate Teaching
       #2 in Most Innovative Schools
      #4 Overall
      #16 for Best Value

An Elite Engineering Program 

In addition, the university’s engineering program is in the Top 50 of the “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs” list (#44), which considers all nondoctorate-granting institutions. And this isn’t the first time the program has received national attention. 

This past summer, the Fiske Guide to Colleges shortlisted Calvin’s engineering program as one of 16 institutions on its “Small Colleges and Universities Strong in Engineering” category. And this past spring, USA Today highlighted a class project at Calvin that led engineering students to discover a pathway for the university to move its carbon neutrality target date up nearly a quarter-century. 

Note: Calvin is planning to expand this program in fall 2025 to include aerospace engineering.