The Top 50 Private Universities At a Glance

We updated and ranked this list of the top 50 values in private universities for 2009 (how we scored the schools). Clicking on the college names below will show you all of the ranking data. Or, see our top 50 values in liberal arts colleges. Most of our data come from Petersons, a Nelnet company.

1 - Cal. Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Cal.
2 - Yale, New Haven, Conn.
3 - Princeton, Princeton, N.J.
4 - Rice, Houston, Tex.
5 - Duke, Durham, N.C.
6 - Harvard, Cambridge, Mass.
7 - Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.
8 - MIT, Cambridge, Mass.
9 - Emory, Atlanta, Ga.
10 - Stanford, Stanford, Cal.
11 - University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.
12 - Brown, Providence, R.I.
13 - Northwestern, Evanston, Ill.
14 - University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind.
15 - Vanderbilt, Nashville, Tenn.
16 - Brandeis, Waltham, Mass.
17 - University of Richmond, Richmond, Va.
18 - Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Md.
19 - Tufts, Medford, Mass.
20 - Wake Forest, Winston-Salem, N.C.
21 - Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
22 - Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
23 - Trinity, San Antonio, Tex.
24 - Cornell, Ithaca, N.Y.
25 - Columbia, New York, N.Y.
26 - Lehigh, Bethlehem, Pa.
27 - University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
28 - Bentley, Waltham, Mass.
29 - Elon University, Elon, N.C.
30 - Univ. of So. California, Los Angeles, Cal.
31 - Providence College, Providence, R.I.
32 - Villanova University, Villanova, Pa.
33 - University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y.
34 - Clark, Worcester, Mass.
35 - Pepperdine, Malibu, Cal.
36 - Case Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio
37 - Gonzaga, Spokane, Wash.
38 - University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.
39 - Whitworth, Spokane, Wash.
40 - Baylor, Waco, Tex.
41 - Xavier, Cincinnati, Ohio
42 - Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, Pa.
43 - Santa Clara Univ., Santa Clara, Cal.
44 - Marquette, Milwaukee, Wis.
45 - New York University, New York, N.Y.
46 - Boston Univ., Boston, Mass.
47 - Loyola College, Baltimore, Md.
48 - Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.
49 - Marist College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
50 - Emerson College, Boston, Mass.

Best Values in Private Colleges - Top 50 Private Universities (2008)
by Kiplinger.com

1. Cal. Institute of Technology
2. Yale
3. Princeton
4. MIT
5. Rice
6. Harvard
7. Dartmouth College
8. Duke
9. Emory
10. Uni of Pennsylvania
11. Uni of Notre Dame
12. Brown
13. Stanford
14. Vanderbilt
15. Columbia
16. Georgetown
17. Northwestern
18. Brandeis
19. Tufts
20. Cornell
21. Boston College
22. Uni of Richmond
23. Johns Hopkins
24. Wake Forest
25. Elon Uni
26. Columbia Uni
27. Providence College
28. Bentley College
29. Trinity Uni
30. Whitworth College
31. U of Chicago
32. Villanova U
33. Clark U
34. Gonzaga
35. Emerson College
36. Univ. of Southern California
37. Santa Clara U
38. Baylor U
39. Carnegie Mellon
40. U of Miami
41. Marist College
42. Xavier
43. Syracuse U
44. Marquette
45. Case Western Reserve
46. U of Scranton
47. George Washington Univ.
48. Boston U
49. New York U
50. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute