Top Colleges in America 2013 – Rankings Released

Forbes released the rankings of the top colleges in American for 2013. Stanford University takes the gold medal this year and silver goes to Pomona College. See the lists of the top 10 below.

1. Stanford University

The No. 1 school, Stanford University, was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate and politician Leland Stanford, who visited Harvard University and MIT to find out how to duplicate the Ivy League in California. Located in Palo Alto, Stanford is largely responsible for developing the region that would become known as Silicon Valley, the home to the world’s highest tech companies and greatest innovators. The university is home to the world’s largest stem cell research facility, and an entirely new campus for the business school, thanks to the $6.2 billion fundraising campaign that has gone down in the books as the most successful university fundraising campaign in history.

2. Pomona College

Pomona College is a private liberal arts college located in Claremont, California. Pomona is the founding member of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of seven independent institutions all on adjoining campuses. Students can select from over 600 classes at Pomona plus a total of 2,500 through the Claremont Colleges. Pomona College has an impressive 91% 4-year graduation rate.

3. Princeton University

Princeton University is the fourth- oldest college in the nation; it was chartered in 1746. In 1783, the Continental Congress met at Nassau Hall in Princeton, which made it the capital of the U.S. for approximately five months. More than 750,000 people visit campus annually and the university generates about $2 billion in economic activity

4. Yale University

Founded in 1701, Yale University is the third oldest higher education institution in the U.S. Yale’s student retention rate is 99%. Five U.S. Presidents were Yalies, including both Bush’s ’48, ’68, Clinton ’73 (law), Ford ’41 (law), Price ’66 (law), and Taft ’78. The Yale School of Management was one of the first business schools to require all freshman students to study abroad and the Yale School of Architecture requires students to complete an overseas trip as part of every student’s final-year studio course.

5. Columbia University

Columbia University was founded in 1754 as King’s College, and it is the oldest institution of higher learning in New York state and the fifth oldest in the country. . Since 1901, Columbia University alumni, faculty, researchers and administrators have won 82 Nobel Prizes. Two of those recipients are former President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and President Barack Obama in 2009. Columbia’s Global Centers in Amman, Beijing, Istanbul, Mumbai, Nairobi, Paris, and Santiago facilitate international collaborations, research projects, and study abroad.

6. Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College is a four-year, coeducational, private liberal arts college located in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. The college has a tri-college consortium agreement with Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges; students can also take courses for credit at the University of Pennsylvania, 20 minutes away from campus. One-fifth of Swarthmore graduates go on to earn their Ph.D.

7. United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy was established in 1802 and has consistently increased its number of cadets since to accommodate American military growth. The academy is a four-year, coeducational, public liberal arts college located in West Point, New York. Applicants are required to have a nomination from a member of Congress and, once admitted, have the opportunity to choose from 45 majors. At the end of their four years, students earn a commission into the United States Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. . Notable alumni include 2 presidents (Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ulysses S. Grant), 18 NASA astronauts and 74 Medal of Honor recipients.

8. Harvard University

Founded in 1636, Harvard University is the first institution of higher learning established in the United States. It is on the cutting edge of exploring new educational platforms with the foundation of the MOOC edX, co-founded with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which offers university-level classes online with no charge. The school has pioneered everything from organ transplant surgery to the catcher’s mask. Harvard invests $166 million in financial aid per year, a 70% increase from 2007. In total, Harvard’s faculty and alumni have won 46 Nobel Prizes.

9. Williams College

Last year Williams College ranked No. 2 on the FORBES list, and No. 1 in 2011. It was founded in 1793 as a men’s college. Today this private, liberal arts college of about 2,000 students is co-educational with graduate programs in economic policy and the history of art. On campus, the Williams College Museum of art is home to over 13,000 artworks, including work by Edward Hopper, Sol LeWitt and Louise Bourgeois. The Chapin Library’s collection include first prints of the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and George Washington’s personal copy of the Federalist Papers.

10. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the nation’s premiere technological institutions. Founded in 1861, MIT’s community includes 78 Nobel Laureates, 53 National Medal of Science winners, 41 MacArthur Fellows, and 27 National Medal of Technology and Innovation winners. Located in Cambridge, MIT is part of an intellectual community that includes Harvard University (its co-founder of edX, the free online university-level course platform) and Wellesley College, a cross-registration partner. More than one-third of the nation’s space flights have included MIT-educated astronauts. Notable alumni include architect I.M. Pei ’40, billionaire brothers Charles Koch ’57 and David H. Koch ’62, Lawrence Summers ’75, and Salman Khan ’98, founder of Khan Academy