U.S. News & World Report College Rankings 2010
Top National Universities, Liberal Arts Colleges, and Other Ranks
Aug 22, 2009
The 2010 U.S. News & World Report College Rankings are in, and this year, Harvard and Princeton are tied for the #1 spot. This is Harvard's second year in a row in the coveted spot, but this year, it has to share the honor with former #2 ranked Princeton.
So what do these rankings mean, and how are they computed? U.S. News & World Report computes these scores using 15 criteria, including graduation rate, financial resources, and quality of teaching (a new criteria in 2010). These quantitative computations, which make up 75 percent of the school's ranking score, and combined with qualitative peer reviews.
Here's a summary of the 2010 report:
Top 10 National Universities 2010
The most prestigious category in the U.S. News & World Report Rankings is the Top National Universities category. The contenders in this category are so called 'research institutions," or schools that offer undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees and are committed to research.
Here are the top 10 schools in the Top National Universities category (which include a number of ties that account for an odd-looking numbering):
- 1. Harvard University
- 1. Princeton University
- 3. Yale University
- 4. California Institute of Technology
- 4. Massachusetts institute of Technology
- 4. Stanford University
- 4. University of Pennsylvania
- 8. Columbia University
- 8. University of Chicago
- 10. Duke University
Of course, this is a pretty selective group of schools. The University of Chicago has the highest acceptance rate on this list, at about 28 percent. Harvard has the lowest acceptance rate at just under eight percent.
The schools vary in size. On average, the enrollment of the top 10 schools is about 13,700. Columbia is the largest, at 23,000, in contrast to the surprisingly small California Institute of technology, which only has about 2,100 students.
Top 10 Liberal Arts Colleges
U.S. News & World Report also ranks liberal arts colleges, which they define as schools with an emphasis in undergraduate degrees and a specialty in liberal arts majors. This year, Williams College beat out Amherst College int he liberal arts category; last year, they were tied for the top rank.
Here's the top 10 list of liberal arts colleges:
- 1. Williams College
- 2. Amherst College
- 3. Swarthmore College
- 4. Middlebury College
- 4. Wellesley College
- 6. Bowdoin College
- 7. Pomona College
- 8. Carleton College
- 9. Davidson College
- 10. Haverford College
As usual, the list was dominated by Northeastern schools, specially from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Maine. The three exceptions were Carleton (in Minnesota), Pomona (in California), and Davidson (in North Carolina).
As with the top universities, the schools on this list have a low acceptance rate. Wellesley had the highest acceptance rate, at 36 percent, while Amherst had the lowest, at under 16 percent.
Other U.S. World & News Report Rankings
Another prestigious ranking is the Top Public School Rank. This distinction went to U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY. The highest ranked non-military public school was St. Mary's College in Maryland.
Other category winners included:
- Highest Freshman Retention Rate: Pomona College
- Highest Percentage of International Students: Mt. Holyoke and Principia College, tied for 17 percent
- Most Racially Diverse Campus: Pine Manor College
- Most Students Over 25: Missouri State University at Joplin, at 97 percent
- Lowest Acceptance Rate: Curtis School of Music, at 4 percent
2010 U.S. News & World Report Winners
Although college rankings are by no means the only factors students should consider when choosing a college, rankings like these offer useful information for students and their parents to consider. Prospective students should take advantage of these rankings to find out more about potential college matches.
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