During the same time, these national universities listed in the top 100 rose more than 20 steps: Texas Christian University (from 99th to 76th); University of Massachusetts-Amherst (also 99th to 76th); and Northeastern University (69th to 42nd).

“Northeastern is worthy of study,” said Ralph W. Kuncl, president of University of Redlands in California, who has written about variations in the U.S. News rankings. Not long ago, Kuncl said, “Northeastern was a pretty sleepy Boston wannabe.” No longer.

The private university has gained prestige steadily during the past two decades, first under a president who explicitly sought to raise the school’s ranking, Richard Freeland, and now under his successor, Joseph E. Aoun, who says that is not his goal.

Stephen Director, Northeastern’s provost, said Monday that the university has improved graduation rates, expanded faculty and strengthened its curriculum. “Our goal here has been to improve Northeastern along multiple dimensions,” Director said