How the top ten colleges in the 2024-25 U.S. News Best National Universities ranking have ranked in previous years.
| University of Pennsylvania | 19 | 15 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princeton University | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 11 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Harvard University | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Stanford University | 1 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Yale University | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Johns Hopkins University | 16 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
| California Institute of Technology | 21 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 |
| Duke University | 7 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 6 |
| Northwestern University | 17 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 6 |