New England colleges scored big in the newest ‘U.S. News & World’ rankings
Proving once again how wicked smaht the region is.
It’s no secret that New England has some of the best colleges and universities in the nation. But a new list from one of the most prominent and well-regarded publishers of higher education rankings shows just how strong the region’s schools really are.U.S. News and World Report released their annual rankings of America’s Best Colleges on Tuesday, with Harvard finishing second in the National Universities rankings behind Princeton. Yale and MIT also landed in the top 10, while Tufts, BC, BU, and Northeastern all made the top 40. New England schools performed well in the National Liberal Arts Colleges rankings, as well; Williams took the top spot for the 14th straight year, followed by Amherst, Wellesley, and Middlebury, respectively.According to a press release, U.S. News relies on 15 measures of academic quality to determine a school’s ranking, with graduation and retention rate carrying the most weight. One of the biggest changes to the magazine’s rankings this year is based on class size.“Research has shown that smaller classes foster a productive and positive learning environment,” said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News, in the release. “With this new index measure, U.S. News takes fuller advantage of the data schools provide, while still rewarding schools that make an effort to better serve their students with smaller classes.”The full lists are available at the U.S. News & World Reportwebsite. Here are the top 10 rankings for both National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges, as well as rankings for notable New England schools.National Universities1. Princeton University (NJ)
2. Harvard University (MA)
3. University of Chicago (IL) (tie)
3. Yale University (CT) (tie)
5. Columbia University (NY) (tie)
5. Stanford University (CA) (tie)
7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
8. Duke University (NC) (tie)
8. University of Pennsylvania (tie)
10. Johns Hopkins University (MD)
11. Dartmouth College (NH)
14. Brown University (RI)
27. Tufts University (MA) (tie)
31. Boston College (MA)
34. Brandeis University (MA)
39. Boston University (MA) (tie)
39. Northeastern University (MA) (tie)
60. University of Connecticut (CT) (tie)
60. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA) (tie)
74. Clark University (MA) (tie)
74. University of Massachusetts – Amherst (MA) (tie)National Liberal Arts Colleges1. Williams College (MA)
2. Amherst College (MA)
3. Wellesley College (MA)
4. Middlebury College (VT) (tie)
4. Swarthmore College (PA) (tie)
6. Bowdoin College (ME)
7. Carleton College (MN) (tie)
7. Pomona College (CA) (tie)
9. Claremont McKenna College (CA) (tie)
9. Davidson College (NC) (tie)
12. Colby College (ME) (tie)
12. Smith College (MA) (tie)
21. Wesleyan University (CT) (tie)
27. Bates College (ME) (tie)
32. College of the Holy Cross (tie)
36. Mount Holyoke College (tie)
38. Trinity College (CT) (tie)
50. Connecticut College (CT)
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