Tufts Makes Forbes' Top 25 Colleges List

Six Massachusetts schools peppered Forbes' top 25 college list released Tuesday. And while three Bay State schools occupied the top five spots, Tufts made an appearance further down the rankings.

Tufts ranked 18th on the list, while Williams, Harvard, and MIT finished second, fourth, and fifth, respectively, and Amherst College (No. 12) and Boston College (No. 22) also got recognition.

Although Massachusetts fared well, as did New England overall, Forbes notes a shifting of the winds as the old guard of the Northeast gives way to several newer, West Coast names in its ninth annual ranking.

According to the Forbes article - which you can read in full here - its ranking is rooted in return on investment. It asks questions about undergrads' satisfaction, student debt and "alumni success."

Here's the Top Five:

1. Stanford University (Stanford, CA)

2. Williams College (Williamstown, MA)

3. Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)

4. Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)

5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)

>>> See the full list from Forbes.

Photo courtesy of Chrissy Hunt via Flickr