The Best Colleges in America

When it comes to assessing the value of a college, only one thing matters: how much that school will help you succeed in life. And with college tuition at record highs and staggering unemployment rates, it's more important than ever to select a school wisely.

For our fourth annual list of the Best Colleges in America, we asked real professionals in a variety of industries—most of whom have hiring experience—what they consider to be the best colleges in America.
And for the third year in a row, our readers have determined that the number one school in America is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Almost 1,500 of our readers responded, of which 90.7 percent had bachelor's degrees and 64.8 percent had hiring experience. Almost 30 percent of the respondents work in finance, 22 percent work in technology, 9.9 percent work in education, 9.9 are current students, 9.2 percent work in media and marketing, and 8 percent work in law.

Despite the high cost of tuition and large amounts of student debt, 52.2 percent of respondents said that college is still worth it. However, other people said that the value of college depends on factors such as the caliber of the school, major and coursework, the quality of the education, the cost of tuition and financial aid packages, potential return on investment, and social opportunities.

"Certain majors are worth it — finance, engineering, comp sci. Other majors are not worth paying 40k a year in order to still earn only 30k after graduation," one respondent wrote.

Other respondents stressed the quality of the education and the opportunities to learn as the most important part of a college education. One respondent wrote that, "There's a huge intellectual growth you experience in college."

#1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Location: Cambridge, Mass.
Enrollment: 4,384
Rating: 4.50 out of 5

This is the third year in a row that MIT has held the top spot on our list. The top-tier school ranked high in other ratings too, taking the #11 spot in Forbes and the #5 spot in US News' National Universities ranking.

Reader comments: "It's all about ROI and what exactly are you going to do with the degree? I have colleagues that have MITs degree... they're sitting right here with me, and twice the loan debts."

"While I'm admittedly biased, I still believe the Big Ten schools are a phenomenal deal for engineering and technology degrees. Their graduates have a good industry reputation, the education quality is adequate and in-state tuition is far less than comparable programs at big-name private schools... The one exception was MIT; the two grads I knew were absolutely brilliant R&D technologists."

#2 Stanford University

Wikimedia CommonsLocation: Stanford, Calif.
Enrollment: 6,988
Rating: 4.37 out of 5

Stanford held the same spot from last year's list. The California school ranked at #3 in Forbes and #5 in US News' National Universities ranking.

Reader comments: "In today's world, it's the alumni network that means the most to employers - gone are the days when Harvard, Princeton, Penn, and Yale had a monopoly over top alumni. Now Stanford leads the charge with founders of technology companies, top business executives from Stanford's top-ranked GSB, high-level government leaders, legal scholars, engineers, and finance professionals."

"Honestly, the best people that I've seen in the industry have been from Stanford and UVA. Stanford produces more intellectually aware people who have an instinctive drive. "

#3 Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, Mass.
Enrollment: 6,657
Rating: 4.32 out of 5

Harvard held the same spot from last year's list. The Ivy-league school ranked at #6 in Forbes and at #1 in US News' National Universities ranking.

Reader comments: "In the game of public vs. private schools, name recognition is everything. Schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. have instant recognition by EVERYBODY, even people who have never attended college. This type of recognition coupled with the fact that these schools can attract and keep world-class instructors with their massive endowments will ALWAYS put all other schools at a disadvantage."

#4 Yale University

Wikimedia CommonsLocation: New Haven, Conn.
Enrollment: 5,349
Rating: 4.26 out of 5

Yale gained one spot from last year's list. The elite Ivy-league school held the #5 spot in Forbes and the #3 spot in US News' National Universities ranking.

Reader comments: "I've found that I've met idiots from Yale and geniuses from state schools--it all depends on how hard you work and how much you choose to challenge yourself. The school may give you a better chance at getting a job interview, but after your first or second job, it's your work that counts. But that initial boost is oh so useful."

"The "Ivy+" schools have a prestige value that outweighs almost any cost. Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, Penn, Dartmouth, Brown, MIT, Caltech, Stamford."

#5 Princeton University

Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Enrollment: 5,249
Rating: 4.19 out of 5

Princeton dropped one spot from last year's list. However, the Ivy-league school held the #1 spots in both Forbes and US News' national universities list.

Reader comments: "In the game of public vs. private schools, name recognition is everything. Schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. have instant recognition by EVERYBODY, even people who have never attended college. This type of recognition coupled with the fact that these schools can attract and keep world-class instructors with their massive endowments will ALWAYS put all other schools at a disadvantage."

#6 California Institute of Technology

Wikimedia CommonsLocation: Pasadena, Calif.
Enrollment: 978
Rating: 4.16 out of 5

Cal Tech held the same spot from last year's list. The tech school ranked at #18 in Forbes and #10 in US News' National Universities ranking.





#7 Columbia University

Location: New York, New York
Enrollment: 6,027
Rating: 4.00 out of 5

Columbia held the same spot from last year's list. The Manhattan Ivy-league school ranked at #8 in Forbes and #4 in US News' national universities list.

Reader comments: "Universities with global perspective such as Columbia prepare students for the world and global opportunity set."

"Schools like Columbia or NYU and other urban schools are highly effective as their students tend to have real life experiences during their studies. Interns can attend class and work in a broad array of fields during school, as opposed to rural students who tend to have a more limited exposure."

#8 Dartmouth College

Wikimedia CommonsLocation: Hanover, New Hampshire
Enrollment: 4,194
Rating: 3.89 out of 5

Dartmouth held the same spot from last year's list. The school ranked lower in Forbes at #34, but maintained a spot in the top 10 in US News' national universities list at #10.

Reader comments: "Dartmouth, Colgate, Wiliams and Yale -- great launchers of careers."

"Even top students from elite universities can suffer in the job market if they did not choose an in-demand major. I still have several friends from Brown, Dartmouth, and Columbia who majored in English, Writing, and other Humanities subjects currently less valued (due both to surplus of Humanities majors looking for jobs and technical requirements of many hiring institutions) in the job market who are still unemployed or underemployed while looking for more challenging work."

#9 University of Pennsylvania

Location: Philadelphia, Penn.
Enrollment: 9,779
Rating: 3.85 out of 5

U Penn held the same spot from last year's list. The Ivy-league school ranked at #17 in Forbes and at #8 in US News' national universities list.

Reader comments: "There's a difference between best "schools" and best "universities". Take Penn, for example. Wharton is the best undergrad business school and Penn's nursing school is the best undergrad nursing program. They both are "extremely helpful" in landing jobs after graduation. Many majors in Penn's college of arts and sciences will not be so helpful, however. Grade by program, not by university. Kids aspiring to college need to focus less on the sports team and more about individual programs."

#10 Cornell University

Courtesy of Jason BarellLocation: Ithaca, New York
Enrollment: 14,167
Rating: 3.83 out of 5

Cornell held the same spot from last year's list. The upstate New York Ivy ranked lower in Forbes at #51, but higher in US News' list of national universities at #15.