The best colleges in the nation are often associated with low acceptance rates and high tuition, but they are the best for a reason.
Many schools that made College Factual's ranking for the upcoming academic year are highly selective and expensive, but also boast near-perfect rates for freshmen retention and graduation. These schools also employ a majority of their professors full time and can keep classrooms small through their selectivity.
Bill Phelan, co-founder and CEO of College Factual, told USA Today College the data website was designed to inform prospective students. He said applying to such elite institutions should be a logical decision, not one based on "reputation."
"The biggest factor shift was student loan default rates... Harvard went down 32 spots on its default rate ranking and UPenn went up 72 spots," Phelan told USA Today College. "We look at what you are likely to pay and match that to the quality of the school to determine the best bang for your buck."
Here is College Factual's top 10. The full list can be seen here.
1. University of Pennsylvania
Location: Philadelphia, Penn.
Acceptance rate: 9.9 percent
Full time professors: 96 percent
2. Yale University
Location: New Haven, Conn.
Acceptance rate: 6.3 percent
Full time professors: 71 percent
3. Duke University
Location: Durham, N.C.
Acceptance rate: 9.4 percent
Full time professors: 94 percent
4. Harvard University
Location: Cambridge, Mass.
Acceptance rate: 5.9 percent
Full time professors: 83 percent
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Location: Cambridge, Mass.
Acceptance rate: 7.9 percent
Full time professors: 82 percent
6. Brown University
Location: Providence, R.I.
Acceptance rate: 8.7 percent
Full time professors: 86 percent
7. Stanford University
Location: Stanford, Calif.
Acceptance rate: 5.1 percent
Full time professors: 90 percent
8. Princeton University
Location: Princeton, N.J.
Acceptance rate: 7.4 percent
Full time professors: 83 percent
9. Dartmouth College
Location: Hanover, N.H.
Acceptance rate: 10.3 percent
Full time professors: 81 percent
10. University of Notre Dame
Location: Notre Dame, Ind.
Acceptance rate: 21.2 percent
Full time professors: 89 percent
