COLLEGE RANKINGS 2014

Our list takes into account nine factors, with future earnings, affordability, and academics weighted most heavily. The other criteria are graduation rates, diversity, athletics, nightlife, student activities, and campus quality (things like food, weather, and crime rate). This year, we used data from The National Center for Education Statistics, as well as private organizations like PayScale, for salary data, and Niche, for student opinions. Below, the top 250 and a sampling of how each fared within the given criteria. Click here for our full methodology.
Here are the first 20

1

Stanford University

Stanford, California

#4 FUTURE EARNINGS

Average Salary - $61,300 starting; $119,000 mid-career

#510 AFFORDABILITY

$19,233 average net price

#61 GRADUATION RATE

4-year rate - 80%

#2
Academics

#17
Campus Quality

#27
Student Life

#362
Nightlife

#14
Diversity

#18
Athletics
2

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts
3

Yale University

New Haven, Connecticut
4

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, Massachusetts
5

Columbia University

New York, New York
6

Princeton University

Princeton, New Jersey
7

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York
8

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9

Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island
10

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
11

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California
12

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
13

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, Tennessee
14

Rice University

Houston, Texas
15

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan
16

University of Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia
17

Duke University

Durham, North Carolina
18

Williams College

Williamstown, Massachusetts
19

Dartmouth College

Hanover, New Hampshire
20

Pomona College

Claremont, California