HILLSDALE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Hillsdale College just scored double honors: an A+ financial rating from Forbes and top cultural rankings in the Princeton Review’s 2026 survey. 

This summer, Forbes ranked Hillsdale College third nationwide for financial health, behind Carleton College and Johns Hopkins University, among just 20 private colleges to earn an A+ grade. The rating credited Hillsdale’s nearly $900 million endowment and strict financial discipline.

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“Because we don’t take even a single penny of taxpayer money, we have to work even harder to raise and steward private support,” Bill Gray, Hillsdale’s vice president for institutional advancement, told The Collegian. “This ranking shows that an independent college, faithful to its principles because of its independence, can thrive at the very highest level.”

President Larry Arnn put it more bluntly: “Our college is fully responsible for itself. We don’t wait upon Congress or the bureaucracy to tell us how much money we have or what we may do with it.”

That independence was rewarded again this summer, when Congress carved out exemptions to its new endowment tax for smaller schools like Hillsdale. 

The Princeton Review likewise recognized Hillsdale for something money can’t buy: its culture. Students ranked their school second in the nation for community service, second for being politically conservative, and second for religiosity. Hillsdale also placed in the top ten for happiest students, friendliest students, and “their students love these colleges.”

Associate Dean of Men Jeffery “Chief” Rogers tied those results to the college’s Christian mission: “The Bible says that they will know that we are Christians by our love. Serving via volunteering is a way to love and live that out.”