Best Liberal Arts Schools

Following are some of the best liberal arts schools as ranked by the US News & World Report:




Wheaton College - the best liberal arts school in the state of Illinois, ranked 56th out of 265 schools in the country. It is also ranked the 7th most popular liberal arts college by the 2009 U.S. News & World Report. Wheaton is placed third in the nation among liberal arts schools (Washington Monthly). Other prestigious liberal arts schools in Illinois are: Illinois Wesleyan University, Augustana College, Knox College and Lake Forest College.



Connecticut College - a top 50 school, placed 42nd nationally by US News. According to the Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, it is rated 31st out of the top 50 "Best Value in Private Colleges". The Princeton Review ranks the school at 19th among all colleges and universities for best career services/job placement. Connecticut College is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Other Top Liberal Arts Colleges in Connecticut are: Wesleyan University (13th nationally) and Trinity College (#33 nationally).



Agnes Scott College - the best liberal arts school in the state of Georgia, placed 60th nationally. It is also rated highly in the Princeton Review's 2007 The Best 361 Colleges, placed 4th for "Most Beautiful Campus", and 8th for "Dorms Like Palaces". Agnes Scott College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.



Oberlin College - the highest ranked liberal arts school in the state, placed #1 in Ohio and #20 nationally by US News. It is the only school in Ohio to be selected for The Princeton Review’s "Best Value" Colleges list for 2009. It is also ranked 36th in the Kiplinger 2008-2009 Best Values in Private Colleges. Oberlin is accredited by the North Central Association of College and Secondary Schools, the National Association of Schools of Music, and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.



Bowdoin College - rated first in the state of Maine and 6th nationally among liberal arts colleges in the United States, according to the U.S. News and World Report 2009. It is also included as one of the nation's best institutions for undergraduate education by The Princeton Review. Bowdoin is accredited regionally by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (NEASCHE).



Grinnell College - the highest ranked school in Iowa, placed 14th nationally in 2009. The Princeton Review ranked it as one of the Top 10 best values in private colleges. It is placed 14th in the Washington Monthly rankings. Grinnell College is accredited regionally by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (NCACHE).

Top 10 Universities in the US

Here we will look at some of the prestigious US universities that are consistently ranked among the top 10 in both national and international league tables:



In the US, the top 10 universities as ranked by the US News & World Report's "National Universities Rankings 2009" are as follows:



1 Harvard University

2 Princeton University

3 Yale University

4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

4 Stanford University

6 California Institute of Technology

6 University of Pennsylvania

8 Columbia University

8 Duke University

8 University of Chicago



In the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), the top 10 US institutions in 2008 are:



National Rank, Name, (World Rank)

1 Harvard Univ (1)

2 Stanford Univ (2)

3 Univ California - Berkeley (3)

4 MIT (5)

5 California Inst Tech (6)

6 Columbia Univ (7)

7 Princeton (8)

8 Univ Chicago (9)

9 Yale (11)

10 Cornell Univ (12)



10 Best American institutions in the THES 2008 World Top 200 Universities:



National Rank, Name, (World Rank)

1 Harvard (1)

2 Yale (2)

3 Caltech (5)

4 Uni of Chicago (8)

5 MIT (9)

6 Columbia Univ (10)

7 Univ of Pennsylvania (11)

8 Princeton (12)

=9 Duke (=13)

=9 Johns Hopkins Univ (=13)



* Ranking Analysis:

- Harvard is the Number One university in the nation, ranked 1st in the country in many league tables such as the US News, ARWU, THES-QS, Newsweek, etc.

- MIT is a Top 5 institution, ranked equal 4th nationally by US News, 5th in the world by ARWU, and No. 1 in the world by Webometrics Ranking of World Universities 2009.

- A total of 5 institutions are ranked in the World's top 10 list by both ARWU and THES in 2008: Harvard, Caltech, Chicago, MIT and Columbia.

American Universities in World Rankings

American universities and colleges are recognized internationally as leaders in the global university rankings, they always dominate the World's top 100 rankings. Following are some of the leading US institutions that are ranked amongst World's top 5 in the world university league tables:



Harvard University

- ranked No. 1 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

- No. 1 in the THES World Top 200 institutions in 2008.

- No. 1 in Wuhan University Ranking.

- No. 3 in Webometrics Ranking of World Universities 2009.

- No. 1 in Newsweek ranking of top 100 global universities.



Yale University

- No. 2 in THES Rankings 2008.

- No. 3 in Newsweek ranking.



California Institute of Technology

- No. 4 in Newsweek.

- No. 5 in THES 2008.



Massachusetts Institute of Technology

- No. 1 in Webometrics 2009.

- No. 5 in ARWU 2008.


Stanford University

- No. 2 in Newsweek.

- No. 4 in Wuhan University Ranking.

- No. 2 in ARWU 2008.

- No. 2 in Webometrics 2009.

University of California Berkeley

- No. 4 in the ranking web of world universities.

- No. 3 in SJTU's ARWU League Table 2008.

- No. 5 in Newsweek.