Belmont Left Out on College Ranking Platforms
Belmont was not included in either Time magazine’s 2026-2027 list of the 500 best universities in the country or Niche’s top 20 colleges in Tennessee.
While these lists help guide upcoming students to universities, Belmont’s exclusion will not change its student-focused approach, said Belmont Provost David Gregory in a statement. Gregory declined to be interviewed in person.
“Instead of chasing any single publication’s ranking formula, our focus is on ‘developing diverse leaders of purpose, character, wisdom and transformational mindset, eager and equipped to make the world a better place,’” Gregory said. “Our work toward achieving that mission is the only measurement we care about.”
Despite Belmont’s exclusion on these lists, it has not led to a change of opinion for some students.
“When I chose Belmont, I knew what school I was signing up for,” said Alee Glennon, a Belmont freshman.
The Time magazine list was created to “highlight U.S. institutions that provide the best value for their students,” said Charlotte Hu in the Time article she authored.
Neighboring universities Vanderbilt and Lipscomb were ranked 22 and 490 respectively on Time’s list.
Time used a wide range of factors to determine the 500 universities that would be on the list but focuses heavily on three pillars when judging the universities:
Student outcomes, which dealt with the success rate of students both financially and in the graduation rate and how it reflected the school;
Learning environment, which focused on aspects such as the ratio of students-to-teachers and the diversity of the students;
Attractiveness, which took into account what universities it seems students were drawn to.
Niche, a website dedicated to helping students decide on a college, also updated its list of the best colleges in Tennessee.
It listed the top 20 and then a few more below that. Vanderbilt University and University of Tennessee, Knoxville took the first and second spots for Tennessee. Belmont was at the bottom of the unnumbered list.
Niche based its rankings “on rigorous analysis of academic, admissions, financial, and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education along with millions of reviews from students and alumni,” according to niche.com.
Like Time, Niche based its findings on data from official education databases as well as firsthand reviews from students and parents.
But unlike Time, Niche also took into account factors like the university’s party scene and on campus food options.
“Rankings can provide useful data points for students looking at which college to attend, but they all measure different attributes, and no single list can capture the full picture of what any university’s education delivers, including Belmont,” Gregory said.
Belmont's first preview day is Saturday.
Written by Trey Sullivan
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