America's Best Colleges 2009
America's Best Colleges
Harvard tops this year's list of America's Best Colleges from U.S. News & World Report. It's the first time since 1996 that the Cambridge, Mass., university is alone at the top of the National Universities category. Princeton and Yale come in second and third, respectively, while Amherst College and Williams College share the No. 1 spot on the Liberal Arts Colleges list.
Harvard University
This year, Harvard managed to beat perennial No. 1 Princeton by one 10th of a point in the reputation survey the magazine sends out to college administrators across the country, in addition to making slight improvements in some of the other statistical measures. Harvard, which has a nearly $35 billion endowment, made big news last December when it announced that it would increase the financial packages it offers to students from families that earn $180,000 or less. The move was a dramatic leap beyond the $60,000 threshold that other highly selective universities had been using to determine which students were eligible for the most generous assistance packages. In another PR boost for the nation's oldest university, last school year was also Harvard's first under the guidance of President Drew Gilpin Faust. Her predecessor, Lawrence Summers, left after making controversial remarks about women in the science disciplines.
The reputation survey that U.S. News sends to top college officials at each school counts for 25 percent of a college's ranking. The other 75 percent is based on quantitative data that assesses a college's performance in areas such as graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, financial resources, student selectivity, and alumni giving. Each year, the formula is reassessed to stay on top of recent developments in higher education. For example, just as Harvard and dozens of other colleges recently have made adjustments to become more accessible to families of lesser financial means, U.S. News has incorporated data about the proportion of low-income students a school enrolls into its ranking measurements.
These periodic methodology adjustments make flat year-to-year comparisons of a school's U.S. News ranking somewhat misleading. Nevertheless, alumni always tend to take note of which schools have gained an edge on their academic rivals. For example, in the National Universities list this year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology finished in fourth place, besting its West Coast rival, the California Institute of Technology, which landed in sixth place. Last year, Caltech held the edge with a fifth place ranking while MIT placed seventh. Part of the difference: MIT improved its faculty resources statistics slightly, while Caltech dipped there a little. (As in Olympic swimming, slightly better performance makes a big difference in results at this level of rankings.)
Over on the Liberal Arts Colleges list, this year the United States Military Academy was ranked 14th, besting its rival, the United States Naval Academy, which held the 22nd slot. Last year, Navy had the edge, finishing 20th while Army was 22nd.
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Top 25 National Universities
1. Harvard University Location Cambridge, MA 2007 Total Enrollment 19,257
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $36,173 Application Deadline 1/1 Academic Calendar Semester
2. Princeton University Location Princeton, NJ 2007 Total Enrollment 7,334 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $34,290 Application Deadline 1/1 Academic Calendar Semester
3. Yale University Location New Haven, CT 2007 Total Enrollment 11,454
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $35,300 Application Deadline 12/31 Academic Calendar Semester
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Location Cambridge, MA 2007 Total Enrollment 10,220 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $36,390 Application Deadline
1/1 Academic Calendar 4-1-4
4. Stanford University Location Stanford, CA 2007 Total Enrollment 19,782
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $36,030 Application Deadline 1/1 Academic Calendar Quarter
6. University of Pennsylvania Location Philadelphia, PA 2007 Total Enrollment
18,916 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $37,526 Application Deadline 1/1
Academic Calendar Semester
6. California Institute of Technology Location Pasadena, CA 2007 Total Enrollment 2,133 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $34,437 Application Deadline
1/1 Academic Calendar Quarter
Columbia University
Photo: AP
8. Columbia University Location New York, NY 2007 Total Enrollment
22,655 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $39,326 Application Deadline
1/2 Academic Calendar Semester
8. Duke University Location Durham, NC 2007 Total Enrollment 13,598
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $37,525 Application Deadline 1/2
Academic Calendar Semester
8. University of Chicago Location Chicago, IL 2007 Total Enrollment 12,336
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $37,632 Application Deadline
1/2 Academic Calendar Quarter
Dartmouth College
Photo: AP
11. Dartmouth College Location Hanover, NH 2007 Total Enrollment 5,849
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $36,915 Application Deadline 1/1 Academic Calendar
Quarter
12. Northwestern University Location Evanston, IL 2007 Total Enrollment
18,028 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $37,125 Application Deadline
1/1 Academic Calendar Quarter
12. Washington University Location St. Louis, MO 2007 Total Enrollment 13,382
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $37,248 Application Deadline 1/15 Academic Calendar Semester
Cornell University
Photo: AP
14. Cornell University Location Ithaca, NY 2007 Total Enrollment 19,800
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $36,504 Application Deadline 1/1
Academic Calendar Semester
15. Johns Hopkins University Location Baltimore, MD 2007 Total Enrollment
19,737 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $37,700 Application Deadline 1/1 Academic Calendar Semester
Brown University
Photo: AP
16. Brown University Location Providence, RI 2007 Total Enrollment 8,167
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $37,718 Application Deadline 1/1
Academic Calendar Semester
17. Rice University Location Houston, TX 2007 Total Enrollment 5,243
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $28,996 Application Deadline 1/2
Academic Calendar Semester
18. Emory University Location Atlanta, GA 2007 Total Enrollment 12,570
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $36,336 Application Deadline 1/15
Academic Calendar Semester
University of Notre Dame
Photo: Courtesy of Notre Dame
18. University of Notre Dame Location Notre Dame, IN 2007 Total Enrollment
11,733 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $36,847 Application Deadline 12/31
Academic Calendar Semester
18. Vanderbilt University Location Nashville, TN 2007 Total Enrollment
11,847 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $37,005 Application Deadline 1/3
Academic Calendar Semester
21. University of California at Berkeley Location Berkeley, CA 2007 Total Enrollment 34,953 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees In-state: $8,932
Out-of-state: $29,540 Application Deadline 11/30
Academic Calendar Semester
Carnegie Mellon University
Photo: AP
22. Carnegie Mellon University Location Pittsburgh, PA 2007 Total Enrollment
10,493 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $38,844 Application Deadline
1/1 Academic Calendar Semester
23. Georgetown University Location Washington, D.C.2007 Total Enrollment
14,826 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees $38,122 Application Deadline
1/10 Academic Calendar Semester
23. University of Virginia Location Charlottesville, VA 2007 Total Enrollment
24,257 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees In-state: $9,300 Out-of-state: $26,900
Application Deadline 1/2 Academic Calendar Semester
University of California at L.A.
Photo: Courtesy of UCLA
25. University of California at Los Angeles Location Los Angeles, CA 2007 Total Enrollment 38,896 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees In-state: $7,034 Out-of-state: $26,102 Application Deadline 11/30 Academic Calendar Quarter
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