U.S. News and World Report Rankings for 2009

U.S News and World Report has released their most recent rankings of colleges and universities in the United States. The rankings offer few surprises other than a little jockeying for position among the usual suspects. Among liberal arts colleges, Williams and Amherst top the list. For universities, Harvard beat out Princeton. And on the engineering front, M.I.T. came in number one.

New in the 2009 edition of U.S. News and World Report are lists of up-and-coming colleges and universities. Davidson and George Mason top the lists, and you'll find some other great schools that rarely appear in the national rankings. These new lists, along with top picks of high school guidance counselors, add some welcome variety to the publication.

U.S. News has an almost humorous history of being criticized by colleges and universities at the same time that the schools are more than happy to publicize their rankings. Whatever one thinks of the publication, it certainly has a lot of influence in the world of higher education. College applicants, however, would be wise to pick prospective colleges based on how well a school matches their personality and interests, not because of any ranking.