UGA, Georgia Tech among nation’s top public universities

Two public universities in the Peach State finished high in Niche’s 2022 ranking. One claimed the No. 4 spot, while the other just missed being in the top 10.

To determine the college rankings, Niche combined data from the U.S. Department of Education and other sources with user input — reviews and ratings from current students, alumni and parents — in an analysis that included academics, campus, value for the financial investment and other factors.

Niche made one key change to its methodology this year by de-emphasizing the importance of SAT and ACT scores. Why? Challenges making appointments to test in-person due to COVID-19, acknowledgement of socioeconomic and racial disparities perpetuated by standardized tests and an increasing number of institutions adopting test-optional policies have all lessened the importance of these test scores.

“Our team recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as new variants such as the delta variant arise, will continue to have an outsize impact on the college admissions process this year,” said Luke Skurman, CEO and founder of Niche. “We wanted to make sure our 2022 rankings reflect the current reality.”

When the scores were totaled, Georgia Institute of Technology finished No. 4 of the 691 schools on the list. The school also finished No. 5 of 467 best colleges for engineering and No. 6 of 868 best colleges for computer science. It was also the 11th best value among 1,601 schools.

Georgia Tech was also No. 1 in several state categories: best value, best college, top public university, best colleges that accept the Common app and best colleges for computer science. You can find all of Georgia Tech’s rankings at www.niche.com/colleges/georgia-institute-of-technology/rankings/.

Niche ranked the University of Georgia at No. 11 in the nation. However, Bulldogs attend the No. 3 school for best student life and No. 6 party school, both out of 1,612 colleges on the list. UGA was also third for agricultural sciences.

Compared with other schools in the state, Georgia came out on top in 12 categories:

You can check out off of the University of Georgia’s rankings at www.niche.com/colleges/university-of-georgia/rankings/.