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US News & World Report: California has 5 of nation's top 10 public universities
In this file photo, University of California, Berkeley students march through campus as part of an "open university" strike in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement November 15, 2011 in Berkeley, California. UC Berkeley is the top public university in the nation according to the latest college rankings from U.S. News & World Report.
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The Ivy League prevailed, but California maintained its representation among the top 10 universities in the country as the U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday released its latest school rankings.
There's not much new to report, since most of the same institutions make the list every year and move up or down only slightly. Two California schools typically make the top 10, and they did so again.
- Stanford University tied for fourth with Columbia University and the University of Chicago.
- Caltech placed 10th.
- Princeton, Harvard and Yale claimed the top three spots, respectively.
Those are the overall rankings. If you look specifically at public universities, California fared better, with five of the 10 top spots taken by UC schools.
- The University of California-Berkeley ranked first,
- It was followed by UCLA, which tied for second with the University of Virginia.
- UC San Diego, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara came in at eighth, ninth and 10th.
- UC Irvine just missed making the list, ranking 11th.
As The Atlantic and other critics of the annual report like to point out, there are plenty of reasons to ignore these rankings. Among the criticisms: U.S. News frequently tinkers with the metrics they use, making it difficult to compare the results year over year. This year, they added data on campus crime and safety and students' loan default rates.
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For those who like to factor such rankings into their decisions about where to go to college or who are just plain curious, we've included three of the U.S. News top 10 lists below. For the full results, check out the 2015 rankings here.
Top 10 National Universities
| U.S. News rank | School | Tuition and Fees | Total enrollment | Fall 2013 acceptance rate | Average freshman retention rate | 6-year graduation rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Princeton University (Princeton, NJ) | $41,820 | 8,014 | 7.4% | 98% | 97% |
| 2 | Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) | $43,938 | 19,882 | 5.8% | 97% | 97% |
| 3 | Yale University (New Haven, CT) | $45,800 | 12,109 | 6.9% | 99% | 98% |
| 4(Tie) | Columbia University (New York, NY) | $51,008 | 23,606 | 6.9% | 99% | 96% |
| 4(Tie) | Stanford University (Stanford, CA) | $44,757 | 18,136 | 5.7% | 98% | 96% |
| 4(Tie) | University of Chicago (Chicago, IL) | $48,253 | 12,539 | 8.8% | 99% | 93% |
| 7 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) | $45,016 | 11,301 | 8.2% | 98% | 93% |
| 8(Tie) | Duke University (Durham, NC) | $47,488 | 15,465 | 12.4% | 97% | 94% |
| 8(Tie) | University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) | $47,668 | 21,358 | 12.2% | 98% | 96% |
| 10 | California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) | $43,362 | 2,181 | 10.6% | 97% | 93% |
Top 10 Public Schools
| Rank | School |
|---|---|
| 1 | University of California—Berkeley |
| 2(Tie) | University of California—Los Angeles |
| 2(Tie) | University of Virginia |
| 4 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor |
| 5 | University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill |
| 6 | College of William and Mary |
| 7 | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| 8 | University of California—San Diego |
| 9 | University of California—Davis |
| 10 | University of California—Santa Barbara |
Top 10 Liberal Arts Colleges
| U.S. News rank | School | Tuition and Fees | Total enrollment | Fall 2013 acceptance rate | Average freshman retention rate | 6-year graduation rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Williams College (Williamstown, MA) | $48,310 | 2,131 | 17.5% | 97% | 95% |
| 2 | Amherst College (Amherst, MA) | $48,526 | 1,785 | 14.3% | 98% | 96% |
| 3 | Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA) | $46,060 | 1,534 | 14.3% | 96% | 93% |
| 4 | Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA) | $45,078 | 2,474 | 29.1% | 96% | 91% |
| 5 (Tie) | Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME) | $46,808 | 1,795 | 15% | 96% | 93% |
| 5 (Tie) | Pomona College (Claremont, CA) | $45,832 | 1,612 | 13.9% | 98% | 96% |
| 7 | Middlebury College (Middlebury, VT) | $46,044 | 2,495 | 17.5% | 96% | 94% |
| 8 (Tie) | Carleton College (Northfield, MN) | $47,736 | 2,045 | 21% | 97% | 92% |
| 8 (Tie) | Claremont McKenna College (Claremont, CA) | $47,395 | 1,328 | 11.7% | 96% | 93% |
| 8 (Tie) | Haverford College (Haverford, PA) | $47,214 | 1,187 | 23.5% | 97% | 93% |
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