When you stop giving points for snob appeal, the truly excellent ones shine through. Plus, our first-of-its-kind ranking of the best colleges for rural America.
2026-College-Guide
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After the Closures
How the tidal wave of disappearing colleges will reengineer America’s class system.
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How Online Algorithms Rig the College Search Process
Search engines steer students with fewer resources toward schools with worse outcomes, many of them predatory for-profits.
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Best Colleges for Rural America
These small-town universities deliver better value by a country mile.
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America’s Best Colleges for Research
The universities driving American innovation aren’t just in blue states—and neither is the damage from Trump’s research cuts.
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America’s Best Hispanic-Serving Colleges
In a time of enrollment crunch, universities have a moral and existential obligation to serve the one student population that’s growing. We tracked how good a job they’re doing.
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A Note on Methodology: Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars
To establish the set of colleges included in the rankings, we started with the 1,950 colleges in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., listed in the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) that awarded more bachelor’s degrees than associate’s degrees, participated in federal financial aid programs, were offering classes, and had […]
