PA's Best Colleges Ranked: Main Line Colleges And Universities

Forbes released a list of top colleges across the nation Wednesday, and schools on the Main Line dominated the list when its broken down to Pennsylvania institutions. So how did colleges and universities on the Main Line do in the ranks?

According to Forbes, Haverford College is Pennsylvania's third best school and the nation's 25th best. Villanova University was listed at PA's eighth best (67th nationally), Bryn Mawr College came in at No. 10 in PA (No. 95 nationally), and St. Joseph's University was ranked 16th in the state (189th nationally).

University of Pennsylvania was PA's top-ranked school and the seventh best school in the United States. Swarthmore College was Pennsylvania's second best college while ranking as the county's 19th best.

Drexel landed at No. 20 in the state and 267th nationally; and Temple and La Salle were ranked 27th and 28th, respectively in Pennsylvania, and 360th and 376th nationally.

See the full list of Pennsylvania college ranks (with their national ranks next to them) below:

1. University of Pennsylvania (7)
2. Swarthmore College (19)
3. Haverford College (25)
4. Carnegie Mellon University (45)
5. Bucknell University (55)
6. Lafayette College (56)
7. Lehigh University (67)
8. Villanova University (67)
9. Franklin and Marshall College (92)
10. Bryn Mawr College (95)
11. Dickinson College (118)
12. Gettysburg College (138)
13. Pennsylvania State University (142)
14. University of Pittsburgh (154)
15. Muhlenberg College (164)
16. Saint Joseph's University (189)
17. Grove City College (224)
18. Ursinus College (252)
19. University of Scranton (257)
20. Drexel University (267)
21. Duquesne University (273)
22. Juniata College (277)
23. Messiah College (302)
24. Allegheny College (304)
25. Susquehanna University (306)
26. Lebanon Valley College (352)
27. Temple University (360)
28. La Salle University (376)
29. Washington & Jefferson College (393)
30. Elizabethtown College (411)
31. Westminster College (423)
32. Saint Vincent College (424)
33. West Chester University of Pennsylvania (431)
34. Moravian College (459)
35. Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania (489)
36. Lycoming College (532)
37. Millersville University (542)
38. King's College (580)
39. Immaculata University (582)
40. Indiana University of Pennsylvania (622)
41. Albright College (643)

The 2017 list, which was released on Wednesday, looks at what institutions give back to students on the money they spend on a college education. This year's rankings, as Forbes explains, were created to better align with what the magazine values most, "superior return on investment; high impact, leadership and success; and a first-rate student-consumer experience."

Forbes describes the rankings as "fiscally minded" and says they does not take into account things like campus atmosphere, Greek life, sports etc. The methodology favors variables like "alumni salary, graduation
rate and student satisfaction."

Post-graduate success accounted for 35 percent of the ranking; how effectively students at each school avoid or pay back student loan debt accounts for 20 percent of the rankings, as does the student experience.

Graduation rate and academic success both account for 12.5 percent. (You can see the full methodology here.)

Forbes lists these schools as the country's best:

1. Harvard University
2. Stanford University
3. Yale University
4. Princeton University
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
6. California Institute of Technology
7. University of Pennsylvania
8. Duke University
9. Brown University
10. Pomona College

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