Money Magazine just released its college rankings for 2016-17. Nearly 2,000 schools were evaluated based on 24 factors along three dimensions: educational quality, affordability and outcomes. The result: 736 schools that deliver a great education at an affordable price, with good outcomes post graduation.

The top of the list:

• Princeton University
• University of Michigan
• Harvard University
• Rice University
• University of California - Berkeley
• Brigham Young University
• Amherst College
• Cooper Union
• University of Virginia
• Stanford University

Click here for the rankings or here for the methodology.

Forbes released its list of top ranked colleges for 2016. 

The Forbes ranking methodology is driven by student satisfaction (25%), post-graduate success (32.5%), student debt (25%), graduation rate (7.5%) and academic success (10%).  

At the top of this year's list are:

1. Stanford University
2. Williams College
3. Princeton University
4. Harvard University
5. MIT
6. Yale University
7. Pomona College
8. Brown University
9. Wesleyan University
10. Swarthmore College

Click here for the full list.

Here's an interesting article/podcast from National Public Radio about the College Scorecard just released by the Obama Administration.  The data, which includes some very useful information about the cost and return of a college education at over 7,000 schools, stops short of rankings but makes it possible to create your own rankings.

NPR provides three screens you might find interesting:

• Schools that make you money
• Schools that make financial sense
• Schools that emphasize upward mobility

Click here for details.

Princeton Review has released its list of top ranked colleges for 2016. 

380 public and private institutions are covered and ranked across several categories based on student survey results.  Here are some of our favorites:

• Quality of Life (Rice University #1)
• Happiest Students (Vanderbilt)
• Best Classroom (Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering)
• Best Run Schools (Claremont McKenna)
• Best Food (Bowdoin)
• Best Dorms (Bennington)
• Best Career Services (Clemson)

Click here for the press release.

Forbes released its list of top ranked colleges for 2015. 

The Forbes ranking methodology is driven by student satisfaction (25%), post-graduate success (32.5%), student debt (25%), graduation rate (7.5%) and academic success (10%).  

At the top of this year's list are:

1. Pomona College
2. Williams College
3. Stanford University
4. Princeton University
5. Yale University
6. Harvard University
7. Swarthmore College
8. Brown University
9. Amherst College
10. MIT

Click here for the full list.

Money Magazine just released its college rankings for 2015-16. Over 1,500 schools were evaluated based on 21 factors along three dimensions: educational quality, affordability and post-graduation earnings. The result: 736 schools that deliver a great education at an affordable price, with good outcomes post graduation.

The top of the list:

• Stanford University
• Babson
• MIT
• Princeton
• Caltech
• Harvey Mudd
• Harvard
• Maine Maritime Academy
• Amherst
• Cooper Union
• University of California at Berkeley

Click here for the rankings or here for the methodology.

One interesting way to measure the value of a college education is to consider return on investment.  PayScale does this by comparing the salary of graduates (return) to the cost of attendance (investment) at each school it tracks.  

Here's the recently released 2015 rankings.  We'd focus less on the rankings themselves and more on the relative returns by major/career since it will give you a sense for where your interests can lead.  It comes as no surprise that schools strong in technology fare the best.    

Attention foodies: today Cappex introduced the 2015 Cappies™ for Best College Food.  At the top of the list: Bowdoin College, followed by Virginia Tech and Hendrix College.  

Click here for the complete list.

U.S. News & World Report released their 2015 college rankings earlier today.  Nearly 1,800 schools were covered nationwide and evaluated on multiple measures of academic excellence and outcomes to produce the final rankings.

Princeton retains sole posession of the top spot for National Universities, and Williams College tops the list of Liberal Arts Colleges.  

Click here for more. 

Money Magazine just released their inaugural list of "best colleges."

To come up with the list, they screened ~1,500 colleges based on educational quality, affordability and alumni earnings using data from the 2012-13 academic year.  At the top of the list is Babson College, followed by Webb Institute, MIT, Princeton and Stanford.

Click here for the article.

Forbes released their 2014 version of America's Top Colleges last night.  650 schools are ranked, using a methodology that considers student satisfaction, post-graduate sucess, student debt, graduation rate and academic success. 

At the top of the list: Williams College, followed by Stanford, Swarthmore, Princeton and MIT.

Click here to check out the rankings.

Princeton Review has released its list of the nation's best value colleges for 2014. 

150 public and private institutions are covered, with UNC Chapel Hill as the top public school and Williams College as the top private school.

Click here for the press release.