Forbes College Rankings 2009 Released

The Forbes College Rankings 2009 is compiled by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. This report ranks 600 undergraduate institutions based on the quality of the education they provide, the experience of the students and how much they achieve. No partying is involved in the rankings.

West Point was sixth last year, with last year's #1 school, Pricneton University, dropping to #2 in the Forbes College Rankings 2009. Third through sixth were filled by the California Institute of Technology, Williams College, Harvard and Wellesley.

Back to the miitary for a while, the U.S. Air Force Academy came in 7th place in the Forbes College Rankings 2009, while the U.S. Naval Academy came in 30th place.

As opposed to how much drinking is involved with these schools, the Forbes College Rankings 2009 rely on the following data to determine how highly a school is ranked. 25% of the rankings on is based on 4 million student evaluations of courses and instructors. 25% is based on post-graduate success. An additional 20% is based on the estimated average student debt after four years. One-sixth of the rankings are based on four-year college graduation rates. The last component is based on the number of students or faculty, adjusted for enrollment, who have won nationally competitive awards such as Rhodes Scholarships or Nobel Prizes.

Congratulations to West Point for its #1 ranking in the Forbes College Rankings 2009.