These 7 New England colleges are among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report
The school year may have just started, but for those looking ahead to college admissions, the latest rankings of the top schools in the country is ready for your perusal. U.S. News and World Report released its 2018 Best Colleges rankings Tuesday, and several New England schools claimed top spots on the influential list. Harvard took the No. 2 spot for National Universities, falling behind Princeton, which has been ranked first for the seventh year in a row. Yale tied with University of Chicago for the third, with MIT splitting a three-way tie for the No. 5 slot with Columbia University and Stanford. New England schools also dominated the rankings for National Liberal Arts Colleges. Williams College in Massachusetts held onto its No. 1 spot for the 15th year in a row, with another Bay State school, Amherst College, being ranked second. Maine school Bowdoin broke into the top five, tying with Wellesley and Swarthmore colleges for the No. 3 spot. Jim Reische, chief communications officer for Williams College, told Boston.com the school didn’t have any comment on the rankings, saying they don’t let the annual list occupy their time.“We have our mission, we have our priorities,” he said. “The education of the students is what we stay focused on.”Harvard, Amherst, Bowdoin, and Wellesley did not respond to requests for comment. According to U.S. News, schools are evaluated on 15 “indicators of excellence,” including class size, average graduation rate, and standardized test scores of incoming students, for the rankings. Measures of student outcomes, such as graduation and freshman retention rates, carry the most weight, according to the publication. Explore the full rankings on the U.S. News website. Here is the list of New England schools that ranked in the top 100 for both National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges. National Universities
2. Harvard University (MA)
3. Yale University (CT) (tie)
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA) (tie)
11. Dartmouth College (NH) (tie)
14. Brown University (RI) (tie)
29. Tufts University (MA)
32. Boston College (MA) (tie)
34. Brandeis University (MA) (tie)
37. Boston University (MA) (tie)
40. Northeastern University (MA) (tie)
56. University of Connecticut (CT) (tie)
61. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA) (tie)
75. University of Massachusetts — Amherst (MA) (tie)
81. Clark University (MA) (tie)
97. University of Vermont (VT) (tie)
National Liberal Arts Colleges
1. Williams College (MA)
2. Amherst College (MA)
3. Bowdoin College (ME) (tie)
3. Wellesley College (MA) (tie)
6. Middlebury College (VT) (tie)
12. Colby College (ME) (tie)
12. Smith College (MA) (tie)
21. Wesleyan University (CT) (tie)
23. Bates College (ME) (tie)
33. College of the Holy Cross (MA) (tie)
36. Mount Holyoke College (MA) (tie)
44. Trinity College (CT) (tie)
46. Connecticut College (CT) (tie)
76. Wheaton College (MA) (tie)
87. Bennington College (VT) (tie)
93. College of the Atlantic (ME) (tie)
