Brown is officially the worst school in the Ivy League — at least according to the finalized 2027 U.S. News and World Report’s Best National Universities Ranking published in mid-September. This year Brown dropped to No. 16, its lowest ranking in the last 10 years.
This year, U.S. News updated its rankings to more heavily weigh early career success, including placing 5% of ranking weight directly on post-grad earnings by major. Now, more than half of the ranking comes from measures of student outcomes. This new system defines success, at least in part, by something that has never been Brown’s definition: how much money you make. In a world where undergraduate education is increasingly shifting from an exploratory experience to a stepping stone for employment, Brown should be proud to nurture students who don’t chase the highest earnings but who instead seek to live meaningful lives. If high rankings mean prioritizing income over impact, Brown’s low ranking is something to be proud of. Brown students make a brave choice: They choose to lead lives of service, meaning and purpose beyond simply careerism.
Due to the changed scoring methodology, Brown’s decreased ranking can be partially attributed to the fact that Brown grads do make less money compared to students from other elite schools. The median yearly income for Brown graduates who received federal aid four years post-grad is the lowest in the Ivy League, at approximately $95,000. That median income is lower than the Ivy with the next-lowest income, Princeton, by approximately $14,000, and lower than the Ivy with the highest income, Harvard, by around $40,000. This begs the question: Why are Brown graduates making less than other Ivy League graduates, and what does that actually say about the education received at these schools?
This is where Brunonian values come in. At Brown, about 15% of students choose careers for the common good, and those are typically lower-paying jobs. About a quarter of Brown’s Class of 2025 are employed in the nonprofit or government sectors, while Columbia reported 5% and Cornell reported 6% of students in those sectors. Penn reported only 23 graduates from the Class of 2025 working in the nonprofit sector. While it is hard to measure exactly how many alums from each school are pursuing social-impact work, the long-standing trend seems to be that Brown graduates choose the nonprofit sector more than their peers. More recently, The Princeton Review included Brown on its list of “Top 20 Best Schools for Making an Impact,” the only Ivy on the list.
Rather than best preparing students for the lucrative private industry, one of Brown’s exemplary patterns is the large number of Fulbright scholars that come from College Hill. This year, Brown was the second-highest producer of scholars nationally and has ranked in the top three producers for the last 10 years. Additionally, three Rhodes Scholars were selected from Brown last fall, joining the list of 58 Brown awardees dedicated to public service and scholarship.
Despite many Brown students choosing careers in the common good, the pressure to pursue fields with higher salaries still exists on College Hill. Economics, widely considered a major that results in some of the highest-paying post-grad jobs, was reported as the most popular intended concentration in this year’s incoming first-year class. As someone intending to study the humanities, I have often heard the all-too-common joke that I will be “majoring in unemployment.” I feel this pressure to choose fields that result in higher earnings because this is how our society defines success, and I am not alone; my peer Evan Tao ’27 recently commented on the high number of Brown grads who matriculate directly into high-paying corporate jobs after leaving College Hill.
The U.S. News ranking directly feeds into this cultural phenomenon and the social value placed in high-paying jobs. Their list claims to rank the best universities in America, and when they place schools whose graduates make more money higher on that list, they directly relate income levels to greatness. The problem is that the U.S. News and World Report dominates the college ranking sphere and can influence students making their college decisions. Because of how much it shapes perceived educational quality, universities even “change their behavior” to fit the methodology and accrue a higher ranking. Brown must not succumb to that pressure.
Brown’s focus since its founding has been to provide a liberal education that prepares its students to tackle the world’s greatest problems, and students continue to fulfill that promise of interdisciplinary learning. While Brown might not be able to claim a “Top 10” status, we can shift the narrative around what success looks like by embracing our reduced ranking and focusing on the assets Brown brings to the table. We don’t need to change who we are to maintain our reputation of excellence, we just need to refocus the narrative.
I encourage us all to remember that what makes Brown great is not our income after we graduate, but rather the fulfillment a Brown education brings to our lives through the many moments of unquantifiable joy and profound learning experienced throughout each of our four years. Fascinating discussions from classes outside your concentration, insightful messages from guest lecturers and silly skits are all part of what makes Brown a great institution. By taking advantage of Brown’s strengths, maintaining focus on learning and serving the world, students can change the narrative among the student body, and the University can change the narrative for students who look to these rankings to assess collegiate excellence. By emphasizing who we are, the students who choose Brown will understand that our true excellence surpasses any ranking. Our lower score in a ranking system that values money over impact on the world is a sign that Brown students have not completely abandoned the purpose of their Brown undergraduate education. We should be proud to attend the lowest-ranked Ivy; Brown students use their education to pursue their passions, better the world and give their lives meaning.
Sophie Hansen ’30 can be reached at sophie_hansen@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
