- Harvard, MIT, and Yale are the top three colleges in the US.
- The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education released its rankings for the best colleges in America in 2019.
- The ranking was based on 15 key indicators, including post-graduation salary, diversity of the school, and student instruction.
The Wall Street Journal released its rankings for the top colleges in the US in 2019.
The ranking, which was done in conjunction with Times Higher Education, was based on 15 key indicators, which were grouped as Outcomes, Resources, Engagement, and Environment.
Outcomes (40% of the ranking) judged aspects like post-graduation salaries and how much debt they take on. The average salary for students 10 years after entering Yale University, for instance, is $74,467, while 1.5% of students default on loans.
Resources (30%) accounted for how much the school spends on instruction and student services.
Engagement (20%) drew from student feedback on teaching, interactions with faculty, and other topics.
Environment (10%) assessed the college's diversity.
The Journal also included the average net price of each university - the published cost of attendance minus average grant and scholarship aid.
Below, we included the top 50 colleges and universities, as well as where they ranked in last year's list for 2018. See if your school made the cut:
50. Bryn Mawr College
Location: Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Outcomes: 87
Resources: 35
Engagement: 501-600
Environment: 127
Average net price: $31,900
2018 ranking: 49
48. Lehigh University (tie)
Location: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Outcomes: 65
Resources: 38
Engagement: 126
Environment: 356
Average net price: $27,478
2018 ranking: 50
48. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (tie)
Location: Champaign, Illinois
Outcomes: 31
Resources: 306
Engagement: 34
Environment: 93
Average net price: $16,683
2018 ranking: 48
47. University of Miami
Location: Coral Gables, Florida
Outcomes: 68
Resources: 78
Engagement: 34
Environment: 78
Average net price: $37,424
2018 ranking: 44
46. Wesleyan University
Location: Middletown, Connecticut
Outcomes: 64
Resources: 35
Engagement: 345
Environment: 193
Average net price: $20,490
2018 ranking: 45
45. University of California, San Diego
Location: La Jolla, California
Outcomes: 32
Resources: 186
Engagement: 387
Environment: 13
Average net price: $14,770
2018 ranking: 47
44. Bowdoin College
Location: Brunswick, Maine
Outcomes: 47
Resources: 38
Engagement: 142
Environment: 501-600
Average net price: $24,888
2018 ranking: 39
43. Purdue University West Lafayette
Location: West Lafayette, Indiana
Outcomes: 37
Resources: 92
Engagement: 68
Environment: 338
Average net price: $11,693
2018 ranking: 43
41. Smith College (tie)
Location: Northampton, Massachusetts
Outcomes: 58
Resources: 40
Engagement: 304
Environment: 153
Average net price: $24,258
2018 ranking: 37
41. University of California, Davis (tie)
Location: Davis, California
Outcomes: 35
Resources: 171
Engagement: 201
Environment: 8
Average net price: $16,039
2018 ranking: 46
39. Haverford College (tie)
Location: Haverford, Pennsylvania
Outcomes: 50
Resources: 25
Engagement: 459
Environment: 323
Average net price: $21,144
2018 ranking: 42
39. Case Western Reserve University (tie)
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Outcomes: 53
Resources: 32
Engagement: 459
Environment: 225
Average net price: $33,124
2018 ranking: 34
37. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (tie)
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Outcomes: 29
Resources: 99
Engagement: 246
Environment: 417
Average net price: $10,077
2018 ranking: 33
37. Middlebury College (tie)
Location: Middlebury, Vermont
Outcomes: 42
Resources: 37
Engagement: 499
Environment: 450
Average net price: $21,437
2018 ranking: 36
36. Boston University
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Outcomes: 52
Resources: 58
Engagement: 68
Environment: 210
Average net price: $31,539
2018 ranking: 40
35. Carleton College
Location: Northfield, Minnesota
Outcomes: 44
Resources: 47
Engagement: 217
Environment: 292
Average net price: $28,587
2018 ranking: 38
33. Claremont McKenna College (tie)
Location: Claremont, California
Outcomes: 50
Resources: 28
Engagement: 246
Environment: 225
Average net price: $30,527
2018 ranking: 35
33. University of California, Berkeley (tie)
Location: Berkeley, California
Outcomes: 30
Resources: 181
Engagement: 126
Environment: 24
Average net price: $17,160
2018 ranking: 40
32. Tufts University
Location: Medford, Massachusetts
Outcomes: 48
Resources: 18
Engagement: 246
Environment: 323
Average net price: $28,076
2018 ranking: 32
31. Swarthmore College
Location: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Outcomes: 49
Resources: 30
Engagement: 91
Environment: 105
Average net price: $19,641
2018 ranking: 30
30. Georgetown University
Location: Washington, D.C.
Outcomes: 33
Resources: 50
Engagement: 142
Environment: 246
Average net price: $26,625
2018 ranking: 31
29. Wellesley College
Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts
Outcomes: 43
Resources: 25
Engagement: 217
Environment: 141
Average net price: $20,013
2018 ranking: 28
28. University of Michigan — Ann Arbor
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Outcomes: 20
Resources: 91
Engagement: 12
Environment: 309
Average net price: $16,107
2018 ranking: 27
27. New York University
Location: New York City
Outcomes: 39
Resources: 44
Engagement: 68
Environment: 78
Average net price: $35,147
2018 ranking: 29
26. University of Notre Dame
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana
Outcomes: 24
Resources: 28
Engagement: 68
Environment: 500
Average net price: $26,683
2018 ranking: 24
25. University of California, Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles, California
Outcomes: 22
Resources: 119
Engagement: 16
Environment: 8
Average net price: $14,236
2018 ranking: 25
24. Pomona College
Location: Claremont, California
Outcomes: 39
Resources: 24
Engagement: 217
Environment: 46
Average net price: $18,140
2018 ranking: 26
23. Williams College
Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Outcomes: 16
Resources: 25
Engagement: 501-600
Environment: 167
Average net price: $18,167
2018 ranking: 22
22. Amherst College
Location: Amherst, Massachusetts
Outcomes: 13
Resources: 30
Engagement: 601-800
Environment: 105
Average net price: $19,055
2018 ranking: 23
21. Johns Hopkins University
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Outcomes: 19
Resources: 22
Engagement: 345
Environment: 118
Average net price: $27,352
2018 ranking: 17 (tie)
20. Emory University
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Outcomes: 24
Resources: 19
Engagement: 170
Environment: 78
Average net price: $24,804
2018 ranking: 19
19. Vanderbilt University
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Outcomes: 23
Resources: 5
Engagement: 68
Environment: 406
Average net price: $23,150
2018 ranking: 21
18. Washington University in St Louis
Location: Saint Louis, Missouri
Outcomes: 20
Resources: 16
Engagement: 34
Environment: 246
Average net price: $28,824
2018 ranking: 11 (tie)
17. University of Southern California
Location: Los Angeles, California
Outcomes: 24
Resources: 20
Engagement: 6
Environment: 69
Average net price: $32,932
2018 ranking: 15 (tie)
16. Carnegie Mellon University
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Outcomes: 13
Resources: 20
Engagement: 16
Environment: 193
Average net price: $35,250
2018 ranking: 20
14. Rice University (tie)
Location: Houston, Texas
Outcomes: 24
Resources: 7
Engagement: 34
Environment: 134
Average net price: $22,061
2018 ranking: 14
14. University of Chicago (tie)
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Outcomes: 12
Resources: 10
Engagement: 499
Environment: 141
Average net price: $31,068
2018 ranking: 11 (tie)
13. Northwestern University
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Outcomes: 17
Resources: 7
Engagement: 34
Environment: 270
Average net price: $29,326
2018 ranking: 15 (tie)
12. Dartmouth College
Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
Outcomes: 7
Resources: 12
Engagement: 25
Environment: 292
Average net price: $21,177
2018 ranking: 17 (tie)
11. Cornell University
Location: Ithaca, New York
Outcomes: 11
Resources: 13
Engagement: 52
Environment: 193
Average net price: $30,014
2018 ranking: 10
10. University of Pennsylvania
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Outcomes: 10
Resources: 10
Engagement: 106
Environment: 153
Average net price: $22,944
2018 ranking: 9
9. Princeton University
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Outcomes: 4
Resources: 4
Engagement: 501-600
Environment: 167
Average net price: $17,732
2018 ranking: 9
7. Duke University (tie)
Location: Durham, North Carolina
Outcomes: 1
Resources: 15
Engagement: 68
Environment: 180
Average net price: $19,950
2018 ranking: 5
7. Brown University (tie)
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Outcomes: 15
Resources: 6
Engagement: 6
Environment: 141
Average net price: $25,264
2018 ranking: 11 (tie)
6. Stanford University
Location: Stanford, California
Outcomes: 9
Resources: 16
Engagement: 52
Environment: 46
Average net price: $16,695
2018 ranking: 3 (tie)
5. California Institute of Technology
Location: Pasadena, California
Outcomes: 7
Resources: 1
Engagement: 601-800
Environment: 246
Average net price: $26,839
2018 ranking: 7
4. Columbia University
Location: New York City
Outcomes: 5
Resources: 9
Engagement: 170
Environment: 54
Average net price: $22,973
2018 ranking: 2
3. Yale University
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Outcomes: 1
Resources: 13
Engagement: 68
Environment: 105
Average net price: $18,319
2018 ranking: 6
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Outcomes: 5
Resources: 3
Engagement: 304
Environment: 118
Average net price: $21,576
2018 ranking: 3 (tie)
1. Harvard University
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Outcomes: 1
Resources: 2
Engagement: 142
Environment: 134
Average net price: $16,205
2018 ranking: 1