The 50 Best Colleges In America

When it comes to assessing the value of a college, only one thing matters: how much that school will help you succeed in life. So when it comes to choosing a college, it pays, literally, to choose well.

For our fifth annual list of the Best Colleges in America, we asked our readers - professionals in a variety of industries - what they consider to be the best colleges in America.

And for the fourth year in a row, they rated the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the number one college in America.

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Stanford and Harvard both maintained second and third place, respectively.

More than 1,000 readers responded to the survey; 91% of them have bachelor's degrees, and 70% are involved in hiring decisions. Despite the steadily climbing costs of a college education, 52% of readers believe college is still worth it, and another 31% say a bachelor's degree is worth it if it will help garner credibility, build a network, or achieve a specific means to an end.

"Are you going to learn any distinct, transferable skills?" one reader points out. "If the value of your degree would be negligible at a non-top-tier school, then what is the point of even pursuing it? That's why we're seeing so many people pursuing technology and (computer) networking degrees. In those markets, job prospects are often based on a skill set, not a piece of paper."

Click here to go to a one-page version of our "best colleges" list »

Go to our Best Colleges home page to read about the most expensive colleges, the highest-paying majors, what it's like at MIT, and more »