In 2023, Tulane dropped 29 places on the U.S. News Best College rankings, from No. 44 to No. 73. This year, Tulane shot up 10 spots and is now ranked No. 63. 

On Sept. 24, U.S. News released its rankings, composed of 436 different schools. Tulane’s 10-spot increase stands in stark contrast to 2023-2024’s controversial rankings. 

“[Tulane saw] the biggest improvement of any school ranked in the top 85,” Mike Strecker, assistant vice president for news and media relations, said in a statement.   

Tulane’s improved ranking is driven largely by an increase in its “Peer Assessment Score” — a survey completed by presidents, provosts and deans of admission — which is heavily weighted in the rankings.  

According to Dean of Admissions Shawn Abbott, the U.S. News rankings are not that important for prospective students.  

“According to a recent New York Times article, the Art & Science Group, a higher education consultancy, found that some 40% of students do not use rankings at all when they are picking colleges,” Abbott said. “Only 3% turn to them through the whole of their college searches.” 

Tulane also saw an increase in its position in the Wall Street Journal’s “Best Party Schools in the U.S.” rankings: On Sept. 12, Tulane reclaimed its No.1 spot as America’s top party school. 

“We also have a highly relational campus culture and are located in a city known worldwide for its joie de vivre,” Strecker said.  

Similarly, Forbes named New Orleans the best city for college students on July 1.  

“Admitted students cite our location in New Orleans as one of the most influential reasons for their decision to attend Tulane,” Abbott said.  

Max Cohen, a 2022 Tulane graduate, believes Tulane’s large events give the university its ranking. 

“I think it gets that rep because Tulane gets a lot of visitors, and when people visit, they go for those larger events like Mardi Gras or Crawfest,” Cohen said.  

Sinead O’Connor, the executive director of Crawfest, agrees that the festival draws many people into Tulane. 

“I think Tulane students love to be creative and to have fun, and I think that Crawfest is kind of a manifestation of all of that kind of bringing together the creative nature of the students into a festival,” O’Connor said. 

Tulane increased in another ranking: The Foundation for Individual Rights and Freedom of Expression’s study surveying the freedom of speech on 248 colleges in the United States. 

During the 2023-2024 academic year, Tulane was ranked 10 spaces from the last, No. 238.  

This year, the university’s position increased by 22 spots, to No. 216.  

Still, among the criticisms, many anonymous students in the survey raised concerns about the treatment of Arab students on campus. 

“I am scared to wear cultural garments because once this year, before getting ready to perform a cultural Arab dance for a language festival on campus, we were stopped by an administrator and asked to remove our cultural garment because we are being ‘political,’” said a member of the class of 2024 in the survey.  

A major part of the rankings this year dealt with the student response to the Israel-Hamas war. 

“The expression climate on American college and university campuses radically changed in fall 2023 with the flaring military hostilities between Hamas and Israel,” the report claimed. “For instance, in 2023 we recorded 156 deplatforming attempts on American college and university campuses: a record number.”  

Of the 227 students asked, 54%  said the Israeli-Palestine conflict was “difficult to discuss.”  

Despite the concerns about the treatment of Arab students, Tulane is projected to have made progress in protecting the freedom of speech on campus.  

“Minor adjustments to Tulane’s policies, including its guidelines related to acceptable use of the university’s computing and network resources, as well as protocols on freedom from disruption, resulted in a positive shift for Tulane in FIRE’s latest spotlight report,” Strecker said. “According to FIRE, our move reflects policy improvements and a more open speech environment at Tulane.”