Niagara University is the North’s “Best Value” in U.S. News College Rankings

Niagara University offers students a better return on their educational investment than all 72 other colleges in the north, according to the 2024 edition of U.S. News & World Report's annual survey of "America's Best Colleges."

The "Best Value" calculation considers a school's academic quality and the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid. The availability of need-based grant and scholarship support-financial aid that students do not need to pay back-was a major consideration in the analysis, because this type of aid is most beneficial to students.

"Niagara University remains committed to making an outstanding, transformational education accessible and affordable for all students," said the Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., president of Niagara University. "To be named the university that offers the best value in the north by U.S. News & World Report highlights our success in providing an engaging academic experience and our work in expanding our scholarship program to address the financial needs of our students."

The university was also featured in several other of the publication's categories.

In the overall category of "Best Regional Universities (North)" Niagara is ranked at #33, making it one of the top schools in Western New York.

In "Best Colleges for Veterans," Niagara moved up to the No. 10 spot based on factors including GI-Bill certification, participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program, and having 20 or more undergraduate students who are veterans or active service members.

Niagara also ranked among the best schools in the Buffalo-Niagara region for "Social Mobility," which measures the graduation success of Pell Grant recipients and is based on Pell graduation rates, the proportion of students who receive Pell, and the comparison to graduation rates of non-Pell recipients; and on the list of "Undergraduate Business Programs," and "Undergraduate Nursing Programs." In addition, Niagara's six-year graduation rate is above 70% for the sixth year in a row, again overperforming U.S. News' expectations.