The 20 best college campuses in America

New Orleans, Louisiana

Located in the heart of New Orleans, Tulane holds top rankings in Princeton Review's Quality of Life and City Gets High Marks ranking.

The 110-acre campus sits along the oldest streetcar line in the country, and the historic St. Charles streetcar makes the four-mile trip into the downtown and French quarters of New Orleans easily accessible.

Winter Park, Florida

The private university in Central Florida was named the most beautiful campus by the Princeton Review this year. The 70-acre school located on the banks of Lake Virginia features distinctive Spanish-Mediterranean architecture.

Rollins also received a top-10 ranking in the Easiest Campus To Get Around category.

Poughkeepsie, New York

The liberal arts college has a student body under 2,500 total students, but it still managed to rank No. 4 in the Princeton Review's Best College Library ranking. Vassar was founded in 1861 as an all-women's college but began admitting male students in 1969.

The school also started offering more financial aid options to their growing student body and this year ranked No. 3 in Great Financial Aid.

University Park, Pennsylvania

Penn State's career services office — which regularly holds fairs for post-graduate jobs and schools — was ranked No. 4 by Princeton Review this year. The school also received a No. 3 ranking for Best Health Services.

The University Park campus, which accommodates one of the largest student bodies in America and sprawls about 5,500 acres, is also home to the school's top-ranking library.

Bar Harbor, Maine

With all 350 students sharing one major, College of the Atlantic is deeply focused on community. The school earned top rankings this year for Best Campus Food and Great Financial Aid.

It also earned high rankings for Best Quality of Life and Most Beautiful Campus — the college's 38-acre main campus sits on the oceanfront in Bar Harbor, houses two organic farms, and includes two offshore island research stations.

New Orleans, Louisiana

The Jesuit university is located in the historic Audubon Park District on St. Charles Avenue, just 20 minutes from the French Quarter, and ranked No. 2 this year in the Best Town-Gown Relations ranking (a measure of how well the academic and non-academic communities get along).

Loyola also earned top-20 spots in the Best College Library, Easiest Campus To Get Around, and Best Quality of Life categories.

West Point, New York

Aside from training the future leaders of America's armed forces, the United States Military Academy — better known as West Point — also takes good care of its cadets: It ranked No. 2 for Best Health Services.

The school's library was ranked No. 3 by Princeton Review and boasts strong military archives, as well as collections relating to West Point history, including its iconic class rings.

Princeton, New Jersey

Princeton's 500-acre campus includes Lake Carnegie, a man-made lake named for Andrew Carnegie, and Nassau Hall, a site on the National Register of Historic Places. Princeton Review gave it high rankings for Best College Library and Most Beautiful Campus this year.

The Ivy League research university also earned the No. 1 ranking for Great Financial Aid — 60% of Princeton students receive some type of financial assistance leaving 83% of seniors graduating debt-free.

New Haven, Connecticut

Yale's 260-acre campus in urban Connecticut is famous for its Gothic Revival architecture, but the school is peppered with contrasting modernist buildings.

The Ivy League institution was ranked No. 1 for its library — its Rare Book and Manuscript Library has a Gutenberg Bible on permanent display — and No. 2 for Great Financial Aid this year.

Walla Walla, Washington

Whitman's campus doubles as an outdoor art museum, with over 20 sculptures located around the school.

The school is centered around a main quad and was rated as one of the easiest campuses to get around. Whitman also ranked highly in Best Quality of Life and Best Health Services.

Clemson, South Carolina

Perhaps best known for its football program, Clemson ranks first in Princeton Review's Great Town-Gown Relationships. It also has an excellent career services program, which earned it another No. 1 ranking this year.

The campus borders Hartwell Lake's more than 900-mile shoreline, where students enjoy swimming and boating. Clemson is also a top research university, and students have access to over 100,000 e-books.

Dallas, Texas

Princeton Review ranked SMU the No. 2 Most Beautiful Campus, which notably houses the George W. Bush Presidential Center and 101 other academic and residential buildings on 237 acres. The school's surrounding city of Dallas earned it a top ranking on the College City Gets High Marks ranking.

Although physically distant from the Ivy League schools of the Northeast, SMU's colors of Harvard Crimson and Yale Blue tie the Texas school to a tradition of academic excellence. And at SMU, the overall quality of life is not compromised — the school received a top-10 ranking in that category, too.

New York, New York

Located in New York City, Columbia's location is one of its greatest selling points.

The university's neo-classical campus occupies six city blocks in Manhattan, taking up a little over 30 acres, earning it a spot on the list of Easiest Campuses to Get Around and the No. 5 spot on College City Gets High Marks.

Columbia also ranked fifth on the Best College Library list and currently houses more than 10 million volumes.

Claremont, California

The women's college of the Claremont system is situated on a 30-acre campus that qualifies on the National Register of Historic Places. Scripps is known for its Spanish Colonial inspired dorms, all of which have courtyards and fountains, and ranked in the top 10 for Best College Dorms.

There's a student-tended rose garden on campus, and orange trees line the paths near the residences, which likely contribute to the school's top rankings in Quality of Life and Most Beautiful Campus.

Brunswick, Maine

Bowdoin showed up in the top 10 for Best College Dorms and received the No. 1 ranking for Best Campus Food. The school kicks off each new school year with a "Welcome Back" lobster bake for all students.

The the private liberal arts college earned the No. 2 slot on this year's Best Quality of Life ranking.

Blacksburg, Virginia

Virginia Tech's campus has the exclusive use of Hokie Stone, a distinct limestone the university mines at its quarry on the city's outskirts. It adorns most of its buildings and other campus features, including a memorial to the 2007 attack at the school.

Blacksburg is the largest city in Virginia and boasts close relations with the university, earning it a top-five spot in Great Town-Gown Relations. Virginia Tech also holds a No. 3 ranking for Best Campus Food.

St. Louis, Missouri

Wash U is well known for its residential life facilities and took the No. 2 spot on Princeton Review's list of Best College Dorms this year. Many students live on a 40-acre part of campus known as the "South 40," which includes residential colleges for upperclassmen students.

The university also fared well in several other categories, including Best Campus Food, Best Career Services, and Quality of Life.

Needham, Massachusetts

Olin was established less than 20 years ago but ranked in the top 10 in Great Financial Aid, Best College Dorms, Easiest Campuses to Get Around, and Town-Gown Relations.

With around 350 total students, the entire student body lives on campus in one of the two residence halls. One of the top engineering schools in the country, Olin earned a spot in Best Career Services, too.

Claremont, California

Students at the Southern California college received a No. 3 ranking for Best Quality of Life and Career Services. Claremont's financial aid offerings and dining options were also ranked highly by Princeton Review.

The Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum on campus serves as a meeting point for faculty and students, and it regularly attracts big-name speakers for the Claremont community.