ARCHE Newsletter- Summer 2026

ARCHE study recently featured in Know Atlanta magazine highlighting Atlanta higher education.

From author Cory Sekine-Pettite – “According to a 2024 report from Forbes, Atlanta is the #2 Most Educated City in America. The study cited that nearly 60 percent of residents have a bachelor’s degree and nearly 30 percent have graduate degrees. In comparison, only about half of adult Americans hold a college degree.   This point is echoed by the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE), a consortium of 18 colleges and universities across the Atlanta metropolitan region, which recently released its own study, Higher Education in America’s Metropolitan Areas and Atlanta’s Prominence.”

National Study Highlights Atlanta as a U.S. Higher Education Powerhouse

Atlanta, GA — February 11, 2026 — The Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE), a consortium of 18 colleges and universities across the Atlanta metropolitan region, today released Higher Education in America’s Metropolitan Areas and Atlanta’s Prominence, a comprehensive national study assessing higher education capacity in the 45 largest U.S. metropolitan regions.

Metro Atlanta colleges and universities stand out in the US News and World Report 2022 best college rankings

ARCHE member institutions include 19 public and private institutions in the greater Atlanta Metro Region. These institutions include top national and regional colleges and universities, top HBCUs, private liberal arts colleges, women’s colleges, medical schools, an art and design school, and all access institutions.

Notable highlights this year include our liberal arts college members with #1 rankings from Agnes Scott College as Most Innovative for the fourth consecutive year and Spelman College as the #1 HBCU institution for its 15^th consecutive year. Emory University held its spot as #21 in National Universities for the 5^th consecutive year.

Atlanta area USG institutions stood out in national rankings with Georgia Institute of Technology ranked #10 in the nation and the University of Georgia ranked 16th in the best public universities category. Georgia State University ranked as the nation’s No. 2 most innovative university in the nation, as well as No. 2 for best undergraduate teaching. Georgia Gwinnett College received the top ranking among southern regional colleges for ethnic diversity and #3 in innovation.

Metro Atlanta higher education institutions stand out with notable rankings in social mobility, innovation, and undergraduate teaching.

Select accomplishments by ARCHE member institutions in this year’s U.S. News rankings:

• Agnes Scott College ranked #1 in Most Innovative for 4^th consecutive year, #1 in First Year Experience, #2 in Best Undergraduate Teaching and #2 in Best Learning Communities (Liberal Arts Colleges)
• Brenau University ranked #25 in Social Mobility and #40 overall (Regional Universities)
• Clark Atlanta University ranked #18 in HBCU and a top performer in social Mobility (National Universities)
• Clayton State University ranked #20 in Social Mobility and #52 overall (Regional Universities)
• Emory University ranked #21 in top national universities and #4 in Undergraduate Nursing program (National Universities)
• Georgia Gwinnett College ranked as the South’s most ethnically diverse regional college and #3 among regional colleges in the South for innovation.
• Georgia Institute of Technology ranked #10 among best public universities and No. 38 overall, including private institutions. Ranked #4 in Most Innovative, # 4 in overall best undergraduate engineering programs, with all engineering specialties ranking within top 5 of their categories. (National Universities)
• Georgia State University ranked #2 in both the most innovative and best undergraduate teaching categories. GSU ranked # 6 for first-year experience, #5 for learning communities, #11 in social mobility and No. 13 in diversity (National Universities)
• Kennesaw State University ranked #37 nationally for undergraduate teaching, and its first-year experience program was in the top 55.
• Mercer University #162 in National Universities, #34 Best Value, #58 in best undergraduate teaching tying with Emory and GA Tech, #96 in Undergraduate Nursing (National Universities)
• Morehouse College ranked #4 in HBCU, #18 in Social Mobility (#2 in HBCU), #36 in best undergraduate teaching, #42 in most innovative (#2 in HBCU) (National Liberal Arts Colleges)
• Oglethorpe University ranked #80 in Social Mobility, #165 (Liberal Arts Colleges)
• Spelman College ranked #1 in HBCU, #4 in Social Mobility, #7 Most Innovative, #9 in Learning Communities, #54 overall (Liberal Arts Colleges)
• The University of Georgia ranked #16 among the nation’s public universities and #48 in National Universities.
• The University of West Georgia ranked #41 for social mobility and had four programs ranked in the best in online program rankings: best online bachelor’s programs, best online MBA, best online education graduate degree and best online graduate degree.

Complete rankings on all colleges and universities can be viewed at the U.S. News & World Report’s ranking site.