Princeton University has claimed the overall top spot in the WSJ/College Pulse ranking of U.S. colleges for the second consecutive year.
The ranking, which evaluates colleges based on how well they prepare graduates for financial success, saw significant changes, with half of the top 50 schools being new entrants, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Public schools made notable strides this year, with two — UC Berkeley (No. 8) and Georgia Institute of Technology (No. 9) — breaking into the top 10, and six in the top 20. This marks an improvement from last year when no public schools ranked in the top 10.
Babson College, Stanford University, Yale University and Claremont McKenna College rounded out the top five schools.
In terms of value, several institutions within the public City University of New York (CUNY) system ranked highly for how quickly the salary difference between their graduates and high school graduates offsets the average net cost of a four-year degree. Baruch College, Hunter College, City College of New York and Brooklyn College ranked first, second, fourth and fifth, respectively, with Princeton ranking third.
Meanwhile, Scripps College in California was noted as the college that gave students the best experience while attending, followed by Harvey Mudd College, Florida International University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and California Baptist University.
The top 10 colleges that survey respondents said best prepared them for their careers were: Martin Luther College, Babson College, Hampden-Sydney College, Washington and Lee University, Loyola University Maryland, University of Notre Dame, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Samford University, The Master's University and Kettering University.
The top 10 public colleges were: UC Berkeley, Georgia Institute of Technology, UC Davis, San Jose State University, UC Merced, Virginia Tech, California State Polytechnic University, University of Michigan, California State University Stanislaus, and University of Delaware.
The Wall Street Journal partnered with College Pulse, a college-focused survey and research firm, on the report. The rankings considered factors like classroom quality, dining halls, sports facilities, career preparation and the development of character strengths.
See the full rankings of all 500 colleges here.
