Methodology: Ranking Category Definitions

U.S. News ranks universities and colleges in three steps.

First, to sort colleges and universities into appropriate categories for comparisons, this 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges uses the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's 2006 Basic version of its classifications. Carnegie groups American colleges and universities according to their mission as defined by factors such as the highest level of degrees conferred by discipline. The Carnegie classifications have been the basis of the Best Colleges ranking categories since the first rankings in 1983. As the accepted standard in higher education, they are used by the Department of Education and many associations to organize their data and to determine colleges' eligibility for grant money. U.S. News collapses nine of those Carnegie categories into four main groupings: National Universities, Liberal Arts Colleges, Universities-Master's, and Baccalaureate Colleges. The schools in the Universities-Master's and Baccalaureate Colleges categories are placed into one of four geographic regions: North, South, Midwest, and West.

Second, data on up to 15 indicators of academic quality are gathered from each school and tabulated.

Finally, colleges are ranked in their category by their total weighted score.

National Universities. There are 262 national universities in the country (164 public, 98 private), based on categories developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The universities offer a full range of undergraduate majors, as well as master's and doctoral degrees; many strongly emphasize research.

Liberal Arts Colleges. The 266 liberal arts colleges emphasize undergraduate education and award at least 50 percent of their degrees in the liberal arts.

Universities-Master's. Like the national universities, universities-master's (as defined by the Carnegie Foundation) provide a full range of undergraduate programs and some master's level programs. They offer few, if any, doctoral programs. The 572 universities-master's are ranked within four geographic areas: North, South, Midwest, and West. Important note on the Universities-Master's rankings: The America's Best Colleges rankings are of the entire school focusing on the undergraduate program. The term Universities-Master's is a label to designate a type of school. The rankings in Universities-Master's are not of any master's program at any of the schools. No master's programs are ranked.

Baccalaureate Colleges. These institutions focus primarily on undergraduate education, just as the liberal arts colleges do, but grant fewer than 50 percent of their degrees in liberal arts disciplines. At these schools, at least 10 percent of undergraduate degrees awarded are bachelor's degrees. There are 319 baccalaureate colleges, ranked within four regions: North, South, Midwest, and West.

Specialty Schools. Looking for a school that specializes in textile arts or instrumental music? Colleges and universities that offer most or all of their degrees in fine arts, performing arts, business, and engineering are listed in this category. None of these schools are ranked, but pertinent data for each school are provided.

Specialty Rankings. U.S. News does rank certain undergraduate program areas. Undergraduate business and engineering programs were ranked based solely on a peer assessment survey sent in the spring of 2009. To appear on the undergraduate business survey, a school must have an undergraduate business program accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. To appear on an undergraduate engineering survey, a school must have an undergraduate engineering program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Accredited undergraduate engineering programs were then split into two groups: those schools whose highest engineering degree offered at the engineering school is a doctoral and those engineering schools whose highest engineering degree offered is a bachelor's or master's. Those schools that offer a doctoral degree in engineering tend to have more of a focus on and opportunities for research. Schools whose highest engineering degree is a bachelor's or master's tend to be more focused on undergraduate education.

U.S. News Categories. The 1,400-plus accredited schools were divided into categories based on the Basic classifications established in 2006 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This is how the Carnegie Basic categories translate into the U.S. News categories used in the 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges: