Adelphi University Named One Of The Best Colleges In The Nation

Hofstra University was one of only three colleges on Long Island to make the 2018 U.S. News & World Report ranking of the state's and country's best colleges.

Princeton University in New Jersey was again named the best national university for the seventh year in a row. Princeton is trailed by Harvard University, which comes in at second place, and the University of Chicago is the third best national university, according to U.S. News. For the 15th consecutive year, Williams College in Massachusetts ranked as the best national liberal arts college, followed in second place by another Massachusetts school, Amherst College. The rankings say the top national university in New York is Colombia University (No. 5 in the nation) and the top national liberal arts college is Colgate University (No. 12 in the nation).

Three Long Island schools made the top national universities list:

• Stony Brook University— No. 11 in state and No. 97 in nation.
• Hofstra University— No. 15 in state and No. 132 in nation.
• Adelphi University— No. 18 in state and No. 151 in nation.

No Long Island schools made the national liberal arts colleges list.

The top 5 national universities in the country are:

• Princeton University (1)
• Harvard University (2)
• University of Chicago (3)
• Yale University (3)
• Columbia University (5)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (5)
• Stanford University (5)

The top 5 national liberal arts colleges are:

• Williams College (1)
• Amherst College (2)
• Bowdoin College (3)
• Swarthmore College (3)
• Wellesley College (3)

The top 5 national universities among public schools are:

• University of California Berkeley (1)
• University of California Los Angeles (1)
• University of Virginia (3)
• University of Michigan Ann Arbor (4)
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (5)

The top 5 national liberal arts colleges among public schools are:

• United States Military Academy at West Point (1)
• United States Naval Academy (2)
• United States Air Force Academy (3)
• Virginia Military Institute (4)
• St. Mary’s College of Maryland (5)

In its rankings, U.S. News also took a look at student debt. You can check out which New York colleges come with the heftiest student debt here.

U.S. News relies on various factors in determining the rankings, with retention, graduate rate performance and graduation rate accounting for 30 percent of the rankings.

"Graduation rate performance measures how well schools are graduating their students based on our predictions, which consider spending, test scores and the proportion of students receiving Pell Grants," U.S. News explained.

Faculty resources account for 20 percent of the rankings — things like class size, student-to-faculty ratio — and financial resources — average spending on things that go directly toward educating undergraduates — accounts for 10 percent of the rankings. The rest of the rankings are based on expert opinion, student excellence and alumni giving.

What do you think of the rankings? Let us know in the comments below.

Photo: Adelphi University