Princeton University tops US college rankings, Forbes says

GlobalPost

Princeton University surpassed Williams College as American’s top university, according to new rankings released today by Forbes magazine.

The rankings will appear in the Aug. 20 issue, with a cover story called “The only colleges that matter.”

“It’s easy to spend more than a quarter of a million dollars for an undergraduate degree, and a lot of people are beginning to ask: Is it worth it?” Forbes executive editor Michael Noer said.

“The answer obviously varies, but it is still an unqualified ‘yes’ for those schools ranking at the top of our list.”

Princeton topped the list ahead of Williams College in Massachusetts, last year’s number 1 school.

Stanford in California moved into third place ahead of University of Chicago and Yale.

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The Center for College Affordability & Productivity (CCAP) prepared the rankings for Forbes based on student outcomes, career prospects, graduation rates and debt levels.

Rounding out the top 10 are Harvard, the US Military Academy, Columbia, Pomona (California) and Swarthmore (Pennsylvania).

Forbes ranks 650 schools; incidentally, Texas Southern University was last.

Princeton’s $53,934 tuition shouldn’t deter applicants, Noer said.

More freshmen at the New Jersey school survive first year than other universities, and when they do graduate, they succeed.

“Despite being a pretty expensive place, they have the seventh-lowest debt rate on the list and the fifth-highest graduation rate,” Noer told Reuters. “They just kicked it across the board.”

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