Review of 2010 US News College Rankings

This year’s report makes it the 26th year that U.S. News and World Report has compiled a list ranking the colleges in the United States. The 2010 US News college rankings look at 15 components to determine their rankings.

Some of the key components they look at for each college when compiling the report are: financial aid, student test scores, graduation rates, faculty pay and resources, retention rates, student selectivity, alumni giving and peer evaluations where they get to rank other schools.

The top three universities in the 2010 US News college rankingsfor the Best of the National Universities also place in the top three of the Best Values for National Universities. This time Harvard held the top position alone and Yale beat out Princeton for second place.

The key factor that made the difference when the U.S. News & World Report looked at in the Best Value category for the best colleges report was the financial aid given to the students. Harvard has a system that based on the student’s household income determines the discount off of the cost for attending school there is.

With the plan that Harvard uses it is possible for a student not to have to pay any of the cost for attending there. If a student’s family income is less than $60,000 per year, then they would not have to pay any costs and only 10% of the family income if it is less than $180,000 per year.

Harvard, Yale and Princeton all ranked well on such need-based grants.

The University of California – Berkley top the best college report for the Top Public Schools: National Universities. The University of Virginia tied another California school, University of California – Los Angeles for second. Coming in fifth was University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

On the list for the Best Liberal Arts Colleges: National is Williams College edging out Amherst College. Davidson College came in eighth in the 2010 US News college rankings.

Written by Denise Clay