Date: August 13th, 2013 11:18 PM
Author: Massive Flesh Location
America's Top Colleges 2013
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2013/07/24/americas-top-colleges-2013/
We're No. 1! We're No. 1!
Do college rankings matter? With the price of a four-year education approaching a quarter million dollars, it’s worth paying attention.
When future historians of U.S. higher education look back to when the ground really began to shake, they may well pinpoint 2013. They’ll see disruption in curriculum (towards STEM majors and away from traditional liberal arts) and delivery (from campus to online). They’ll track the problems of runaway tuition costs and student loan debt, shrinking state funding and class enrollment, and a humbling job market for most graduates. But they’ll also single out the rise of non-Ivy League, West Coast colleges.
For the first time, the FORBES Top Colleges ranking has two non-Ivies at the top: Stanford University (No. 1) and Pomona College (No. 2). It is also the first time that two California schools take the gold and silver. The best state school in America is University of California, Berkeley at No. 22. Here is what makes this shift so significant: It may splinter the grip of the East Coast Establishment colleges and open up a more diverse, accessible portfolio of best schools for students.
The rapidly changing landscape in higher education is the theme of this year’s Top Colleges. For the sixth year, FORBES has partnered exclusively with the Washington, D.C.-based Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP). What sets our calculation of 650 colleges and universities apart from other rankings is our firm belief in “output” over “input.” We’re not all that interested in what gets a student into college, like our peers who focus heavily on selectivity metrics such as high school class rank and SAT scores. Our sights are set directly on ROI: What are students getting out of college. (See CCAP’s full methodology here.)
We look at factors that directly concern today’s incoming students (and their families) who will be footing a bill which has multiplied into the six figures: Will my classes be interesting? Is it likely I will graduate in four years? Will I incur a ton of debt getting my degree? And once I get out of school, will I get a good job and be a leader in my chosen profession? We pointedly ignore any metrics that would encourage schools to engage in wasteful spending.
Rank Name State Cost Total Student Population
1
Stanford University
California $58,846 19,945
2
Pomona College
California $57,014 1,586
3
Princeton University
New Jersey $54,780 7,813
4
Yale University
Connecticut $59,320 11,875
5
Columbia University
New York $61,540 26,050
6
Swarthmore College
Pennsylvania $58,481 1,545
7
United States Military Academy
New York N/A 4,624
8
Harvard University
Massachusetts $57,050 27,392
9
Williams College
Massachusetts $59,412 2,126
10
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts $57,010 10,894
11 University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania $59,600 24,832
12 Brown University
Brown University
Rhode Island $58,140 8,768
13 Amherst College
Amherst College
Massachusetts $59,060 1,791
14 University of Chicago
University of Chicago
Illinois $62,425 14,979
15 Duke University
Duke University
North Carolina $59,528 15,427
16 Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
New Hampshire $61,398 6,144
17 Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Illinois $60,840 20,959
18 California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
California $56,382 2,231
19 Cornell University
Cornell University
New York $59,591 21,131
20 Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
Maine $58,200 1,778
21 Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Virginia $56,616 2,193
22 University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
California $55,766 36,137
23 Wellesley College
Wellesley College
Massachusetts $57,164 2,502
24 University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
Indiana $57,805 12,004
25 Tufts University
Tufts University
Massachusetts $58,800 10,777
26 Georgetown University
Georgetown University
District of Columbia $59,900 17,130
27 Vassar College
Vassar College
New York $59,320 2,386
28 United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
Maryland N/A 4,576
29 University of Virginia
University of Virginia
Virginia $51,337 24,297
30 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Michigan $51,976 42,716
31 United States Air Force Academy
United States Air Force Academy
Colorado N/A 4,413
32 Davidson College
Davidson College
North Carolina $54,930 1,755
33 Rice University
Rice University
Texas $52,242 6,224
34 University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
California $54,810 39,271
35 Boston College
Boston College
Massachusetts $58,686 14,754
36 Colgate University
Colgate University
New York $57,745 2,964
37 Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Tennessee $59,890 12,836
38 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
North Carolina $43,847 29,137
39 Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Connecticut $61,167 3,202
40 Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Pennsylvania $57,586 1,785
41 Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Vermont $59,200 2,507
42 Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Pennsylvania $59,710 11,531
43 Haverford College
Haverford College
Pennsylvania $59,654 1,198
44 College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
Virginia $49,712 8,200
45 Carleton College
Carleton College
Minnesota $58,275 2,018
46 Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
Maryland $58,980 20,996
47 Hamilton College
Hamilton College
New York $57,420 1,864
48 Lafayette College
Lafayette College
Pennsylvania $57,688 2,478
49 Colby College
Colby College
Maine $57,300 1,815
50 Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Ohio $59,683 2,978
51 Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Massachusetts $59,050 5,828
52 Harvey Mudd College
Harvey Mudd College
California $60,613 784
53 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Illinois $42,706 44,407
54 Barnard College
Barnard College
New York $59,824 2,438
55 University of Washington
University of Washington
Washington $43,621 42,444
56 New York University
New York University
New York $61,407 43,911
57 Washington University in Saint Louis
Washington University in Saint Louis
Missouri $60,345 13,908
58 Union College
Union College
New York $58,100 2,220
59 Smith College
Smith College
Massachusetts $57,913 3,162
60 Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University
North Carolina $58,260 7,351
61 University of Rochester
University of Rochester
New York $59,156 10,290
62 Whitman College
Whitman College
Washington $54,865 1,596
63 University of Southern California
University of Southern California
California $59,883 38,010
64 Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Iowa $53,318 1,693
65 Reed College
Reed College
Oregon $57,770 1,474
66 University of Texas, Austin
University of Texas, Austin
Texas $48,730 51,112
67 Cooper Union
Cooper Union
New York $53,895 988
68 University of Wisconsin, Madison
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Wisconsin $40,012 41,946
69 Kenyon College
Kenyon College
Ohio $57,910 1,658
70 Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Pennsylvania $55,515 7,055
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2335808&forum_id=1#23835343)