Mars Hill University Ranks Among the Best Colleges in the Region for Undergraduate Teaching

The annual college and university rankings from U.S. News and World Report are out, and Mars Hill University received high marks in several categories, including Best Colleges for Undergraduate Teaching and Best Value Schools.

Professor and student look at student's work on computer model.The university ranked number five in the South for the quality of its undergraduate teaching. That category “focus[es] on schools whose faculty and administrators are committed to teaching undergraduate students in a high-quality manner,” according to the magazine’s methodology. The ranking reflects Mars Hill’s reputation among its peers, as the category is based on nominations from college presidents, provosts, and admissions deans of other schools.

“This high ranking is a great acknowledgment of our faculty’s commitment to their craft and to the success of our students,” said Tracy Parkinson, executive vice president and provost.

The Best Value Schools category takes the top academic schools in a category—for MHU, that’s Regional Colleges-South—and looks at the net cost of attendance for out-of-state students receiving average financial aid. “The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal,” U.S. News says. Mars Hill ranked number 22 in the category.

The university also ranks highly in the category of Best Colleges for Veterans, coming in at number eight. Mars Hill consistently ranks highly in that category, which evaluates colleges’ efforts to help veterans and active-duty service members pay for their education.

The university continued its long streak of ranking within the top 30 colleges in the region, coming in at number 28 in the 2025 rankings. It also gained high marks for social mobility, ranking in the 32nd slot in that category, which focuses on institutions which enroll and graduate large proportions of students from economically disadvantaged families.