2009 Forbes College Rankings

Forbes released its annual list of America’s Best Colleges. The 2009 Forbes College Rankings listed United States Military Academy or the West Point as the Best College in the U.S.

Note that the rankings were based on graduation rate, awards won by students and faculty, student satisfaction with instructors, average debt after graduation, and postgraduate vocational success.

1 – United States Military Academy – NY
2 – Princeton University – NJ
3 – California Institute of Technology – CA
4 – Williams College – MA
5 – Harvard University – MA
6 – Wellesley College – MA
7 – United States Air Force Academy – CO
8 – Amherst College – MA
9 – Yale University – CT
10 – Stanford University – CA
11 – Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MA
12 – Swarthmore College – PA
13 – Columbia University – NY
14 – Centre College – KY
15 – Haverford College – PA
16 – Boston College – MA
17 – Northwestern University – IL
18 – Bowdoin College – ME
19 – Vassar College – NY
20 – Whitman College – WA
21 – University of Chicago – IL
22 – Kenyon College – OH
23 – Carleton College – MN
24 – Colby College – ME
25 – Middlebury College – VT

U.S. News and World Report furnishes their annual list of best colleges, but their list is ranked based on how colleges score in terms of peer assessment, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity and financial resources.

1. Harvard University – Cambridge, MA
2. Princeton University – Princeton, NJ
3. Yale University – New Haven, CT
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Cambridge, MA
Stanford University – Stanford, CA
5. California Institute of Technology – Pasadena, CA

America’s Best Colleges – Forbes complete list.