On Sept. 22, Middlebury once again fell to No. 19 in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings of national liberal arts colleges, dropping five places from last year and reaching its lowest position since 1988 — with the exception of 2024, when it was in 19th place for the first time.
Although Middlebury ranked considerably higher in several individual categories, including No. 2 for study abroad and No. 11 for writing in the disciplines, its overall declining position has elicited mixed reactions from students and faculty.
President Ian Baucom responded shortly after the rankings came out through a post on his Instagram page reiterating that the college’s focus is on its long-term goals rather than its position on any particular list.
“As I've said before, our goal is to be the best liberal arts institution in the world,” Baucom wrote in the post. “When ramblings become a game to sell web clicks, we won't be distracted from our core mission and long term strategy.”
For some professors, the number itself is hardly worth taking seriously.
“I think all kinds of rankings are bullshit,” Robert Cohen, D. E. Axinn professor of english and creative writing, said.
Chris Keathley, a professor of media and film culture took a slightly different view
“This ranking stuff is silly in a lot of ways, but it's real, and it has a real impact on people’s perception of various institutions,” he said. “15 years ago, we were in the top five, I think, but I know that the U.S. News & World Report system changes its metrics.”
He said that the latest change to the methodology should have benefited Middlebury, but its fall to No. 19 then raises another question: “What has changed?”
The answer, in his view, is partly tied to Middlebury's long relationship with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) at Monterey, California.
“There were resources getting sucked up for years and years and years by Monterey,” he said. “We all knew that.”
According to a motion sponsored by the college’s Faculty Council and American Association of University Professors Executive Committee, Middlebury cumulatively lost roughly $300 million over the course of 20 years.
He also mentioned how visible the strain could be seen in areas running from student faculty ratios and class sizes to faculty salaries.
Middlebury sold MIIS in 2025, ending its ownership of the California graduate school. Keathley said that the consequences of that change will not necessarily appear immediately in rankings.
“It’s easier to break something than to fix it. Not that this is broken, but I am optimistic with not only Monterey gone, but Monterey sold. I think we can gain back some of that reputation that was lost,” he said.
“I don't think there's any difference between the students I have now and the students I had 15 years ago in terms of their intellect and talent and abilities,” Keathly said. “So we're still getting great students.”
What may change, he suggested, is who decides to apply.
“I think it's possible that there are people, high school students, who will say, ‘well, I can't get into any top 10 schools, but I can apply to the top 20.’ It's already starting to change,” they said.
Some students have similar skepticism about the rankings. Nikolas Homan ’29, who considered transferring to Columbia University earlier this year, said the ranking did not necessarily reflect the reality of the college, but still affects who wants to attend.
“I have felt let down at times by my expectations of Middlebury versus the reality,” Homan said. “I think that while this drop in rankings doesn’t mean anything concrete about the institution, it does affect the sorts of people applying.”
For Myrah Valmyr ’27, the number seems to carry a different meaning.
“I’m not gonna sit here and act like I don't care,” she said. “Like, I got to Middlebury — that's supposed to be worth something. It’s also hella expensive, so it better be worth something.”
“I think that it’s probably good that they’re downsizing on Monterey,” she said. “That’s probably going to have positive long term effects that we're not seeing right now.”
She also questioned how much authority U.S. News should have in determining the reputation of a college.
“Its such a fake metric too,” she said. “Because you go on five different sites other than what U.S. News is, they’re like ninth in other places or some other ranking in other places.”
Several factors contributed to the change in rankings. “One of the biggest factors in the change in ranking were the number of ties in the top 25 and the movement of other schools up and down, which inherently affects where any institution ends up in the rankings,” Jon Reidel, director of media relations wrote in an email to The Campus.
Keathley agreed that this number should not be seen as a complete assessment of Middlebury.
“When I went visiting colleges with my daughters, it didn't matter what a school’s ranking or reputation or whatever was. When you got there, either you felt it or you didn’t,” he said.
The current ranking may affect how prospective students evaluate the college, but whether it changes what those students find once they arrive is another question.
Despite a decline in the US News & World Reports overall ranking, Middlebury college remains renowned with the Princeton Review placing it as number one in 2027 for most accessible professors. Both Niche and Forbes place Middlebury as the 9th best liberal arts college in America in 2027.
“I know we can come back,” Keathley said.
