U.S. News & World Report Announces the 2013 Best Colleges: Harvard, Princeton, and Williams Continue Reign on Top

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Sep 12, 2012, 09:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report released today the Best Colleges 2013 edition, which includes the rankings of nearly 1,400 schools nationwide. For the second year in a row, Harvard University and Princeton University tied for No. 1 in the Best National Universities category. Williams College has once again topped the Best National Liberal Arts Colleges, making it No. 1 for 10 years in a row.

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In addition to the popular Best National Universities and Best National Liberal Arts Colleges, the Best Colleges 2013 rankings also include Best Value Schools, Up-and-Coming Schools, High School Counselor Rankings, and Best Undergraduate Teaching, among many others. For students with a clear career path in mind, several updated rankings lists may help narrow their college options. U.S. News has ranked the Best Undergraduate Business Programs and the Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs—each of which includes specialty rankings, such as Best Accounting Programs, Best Finance Programs, Best Chemical Engineering Programs, and Best Computer Engineering Programs.

"Since 1983, U.S. News has strived to provide students and their families with the best data and information available to help navigate the college process and make informed decisions," said Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer. "As the college process becomes more competitive and comprehensive each year, U.S. News continues to improve and expand the array of school data, photos, reviews, tools, and resourceful content on USNews.com."

Along with the 2013 rankings and data, new to the U.S. News education site this year is the addition of job and internship opportunities for college students and recent graduates. The job listings, powered by AfterCollege, can be found on a school's profile page and highlight companies and organizations recruiting students and recent graduates from particular schools.

The college ranking categories are based upon the 2010 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifications. The Carnegie classification system has been used by U.S. News since the Best Colleges rankings began because they are the basis for classifying schools by most higher education researchers.

For the first time, the results from the past two years of high school counselor reputation scores, which are only used in the National University and National Liberal Arts Colleges rankings, have been averaged. This was done to account for the fluctuation of ratings year to year, and also to increase the number of ratings each school received. The high school counselor ratings are one of the factors that indicate a school's academic quality. Other indicators include financial resources, alumni giving, assessment by administrators at peer institutions, faculty resources, student selectivity, and the retention of students. To find more information on the Best Colleges 2013 rankings methodology, go to www.usnews.com/collegemeth.

In an exclusive arrangement, the launch of the 2013 edition of Best Colleges is being sponsored by Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of not-for-profit workplace retirement savings plans to higher education employees. For more information about Best Colleges, visit www.usnews.com/colleges or find us on Facebook or Twitter. To learn more about the U.S. News College Compass, which provides access to the most complete rankings and data, or to order a copy of the companion Best Colleges 2013 guidebook, visit the online U.S. News Store.

Best Colleges Rankings 2013
*For the full list of rankings, visit www.usnews.com/college

Best National Universities	Best National Liberal Arts Colleges
1. Harvard University (MA)	1. Williams College (MA)
1. Princeton University (NJ)	2. Amherst College (MA)
3. Yale University (CT)	3. Swarthmore College (PA)
4. Columbia University (NY)	4. Middlebury College (VT)
4. University of Chicago (IL)	4. Pomona College (CA)
6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology	6. Bowdoin College (ME)
6. Stanford University (CA)	6. Wellesley College (MA)
8. Duke University (NC)	8. Carleton College (MN)
8. University of Pennsylvania (PA)	9. Haverford College (PA)
10. California Institute of Technology	10. Claremont McKenna College (CA)
10. Dartmouth College (NH)	10. Vassar College (NY)

Best Value Schools
National Universities	Liberal Arts Colleges
1. Harvard University (MA)	1. Amherst College (MA)
2. Yale University (CT)	2. Williams College (MA)
3. Princeton University (NJ)	3. Vassar College (NY)
4. Stanford University (CA)	4. Wellesley College (MA)
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology	5. Pomona College (CA)

Up-and-Coming Schools
National Universities	Liberal Arts Colleges
1. George Mason University (VA)	1. Allegheny College (PA)
1. University of Maryland–Baltimore County (MD)	1. University of Richmond (VA)
3. Drexel University (PA)	3. Hendrix College (AR)
4. Arizona State University (AZ)	4. Roanoke College (VA)
5. University of Central Florida (FL)	5. Davidson College (NC)
5. University of Southern California (CA)

About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is a multi-platform publisher of news and analysis, which includes the digital-only U.S. News Weekly magazine, www.usnews.com, and www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Money, Education, Travel, Cars, and Public Service/Opinion, U.S. News has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. U.S. News & World Report's signature franchise includes its News You Can Use® brand of journalism and its "Best" series of consumer guides that include rankings of colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, mutual funds, health plans, and more.

SOURCE U.S. News & World Report