tops this year's list of America's Best Colleges from . It's the first time since 1996 that the Cambridge, Mass., university is alone at the top of the category. Princeton and Yale come in second and third, respectively, while and share the No. 1 spot on the .

This year, Harvard managed to beat perennial No. 1 Princeton by one 10th of a point in the reputation survey the magazine sends out to college administrators across the country, in addition to making slight improvements in some of the other statistical measures. Harvard, which has a nearly $35 billion endowment, made big news last December when it announced that it would increase the financial packages it offers to students from families that earn $180,000 or less. The move was a dramatic leap beyond the $60,000 threshold that other highly selective universities had been using to determine which students were eligible for the most packages. In another PR boost for the nation's oldest university, last school year was also Harvard's first under the guidance of President . Her predecessor, , left after making controversial remarks about women in the science disciplines.

The reputation survey that U.S. News sends to top college officials at each school counts for 25 percent of a college's ranking. The other 75 percent is based on quantitative data that assesses a college's performance in areas such as graduation and , faculty resources, financial resources, student selectivity, and alumni giving. Each year, the formula is reassessed to stay on top of recent developments in higher education. For example, just as Harvard and dozens of other colleges recently have made adjustments to become more accessible to families of lesser financial means, U.S. News has incorporated data about the proportion of low-income students a school enrolls into its ranking measurements.

These periodic methodology adjustments make flat year-to-year comparisons of a school's U.S. News ranking somewhat misleading. Nevertheless, alumni always tend to take note of which schools have gained an edge on their academic rivals. For example, in the list this year, the finished in fourth place, besting its rival, the , which landed in sixth place. Last year, Caltech held the edge with a fifth place ranking while MIT placed seventh. Part of the difference: MIT improved its faculty resources statistics slightly, while Caltech dipped there a little. (As in Olympic swimming, slightly better performance makes a big difference in results at this level of rankings.)

Over on the , this year the was ranked 14th, besting its rival, the , which held the 22nd slot. Last year, Navy had the edge, finishing 20th while Army was 22nd.

 

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Top 25 National Universities

 

 

Harvard University

Photo: AP

1. Harvard University

Location

Cambridge, MA

2007 Total Enrollment

19,257

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$36,173

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Semester

2. Princeton University

Location

2007 Total Enrollment

7,334

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$34,290

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Semester

3. Yale University

Location

2007 Total Enrollment

11,454

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$35,300

Application Deadline

12/31

Academic Calendar

Semester

 

 

MIT

Photo: AP

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Location

Cambridge, MA

2007 Total Enrollment

10,220

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$36,390

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

4-1-4

4. Stanford University

Location

Stanford, CA

2007 Total Enrollment

19,782

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$36,030

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Quarter

 

 

University of Pennsylvania

Photo: Courtesy of U Penn

6. University of Pennsylvania

Location

Philadelphia, PA

2007 Total Enrollment

18,916

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$37,526

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Semester

6. California Institute of Technology

Location

Pasadena, CA

2007 Total Enrollment

2,133

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$34,437

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Quarter

 

 

Columbia University

Photo: AP

8. Columbia University

Location

 

2007 Total Enrollment

22,655

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$39,326

Application Deadline

1/2

Academic Calendar

Semester

8. Duke University

Location

Durham, NC

2007 Total Enrollment

13,598

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$37,525

Application Deadline

1/2

Academic Calendar

Semester

8. University of Chicago

Location

Chicago, IL

2007 Total Enrollment

12,336

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$37,632

Application Deadline

1/2

Academic Calendar

Quarter

 

 

Dartmouth College

Photo: AP

11. Dartmouth College

Location

2007 Total Enrollment

5,849

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$36,915

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Quarter

12. Northwestern University

Location

2007 Total Enrollment

18,028

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$37,125

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Quarter

12. Washington University

Location

St. Louis, MO

2007 Total Enrollment

13,382

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$37,248

Application Deadline

1/15

Academic Calendar

Semester

 

 

Cornell University

Photo: AP

14. Cornell University

Location

2007 Total Enrollment

19,800

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$36,504

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Semester

15. Johns Hopkins University

Location

Baltimore, MD

2007 Total Enrollment

19,737

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$37,700

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Semester

 

 

Brown University

Photo: AP

16. Brown University

Location

Providence, RI

2007 Total Enrollment

8,167

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$37,718

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Semester

17. Rice University

Location

2007 Total Enrollment

5,243

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$28,996

Application Deadline

1/2

Academic Calendar

Semester

18. Emory University

Location

2007 Total Enrollment

12,570

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$36,336

Application Deadline

1/15

Academic Calendar

Semester

 

 

Photo: Courtesy of Notre Dame

18. University of Notre Dame

Location

Notre Dame, IN

2007 Total Enrollment

11,733

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$36,847

Application Deadline

12/31

Academic Calendar

Semester

18. Vanderbilt University

Location

Nashville, TN

2007 Total Enrollment

11,847

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$37,005

Application Deadline

1/3

Academic Calendar

Semester

21. University of California at Berkeley

Location

2007 Total Enrollment

34,953

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

In-state: $8,932

Out-of-state: $29,540

Application Deadline

11/30

Academic Calendar

Semester

 

 

Carnegie Mellon University

Photo: AP

22. Carnegie Mellon University

Location

Pittsburgh, PA

2007 Total Enrollment

10,493

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$38,844

Application Deadline

1/1

Academic Calendar

Semester

23. Georgetown University

Location

Washington, D.C.

2007 Total Enrollment

14,826

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

$38,122

Application Deadline

1/10

Academic Calendar

Semester

23. University of Virginia

Location

Charlottesville, VA

2007 Total Enrollment

24,257

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

In-state: $9,300

Out-of-state: $26,900

Application Deadline

1/2

Academic Calendar

Semester

 

 

at L.A.

Photo: Courtesy of

25. University of California

at Los Angeles

Location

2007 Total Enrollment

38,896

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees

In-state: $7,034

Out-of-state: $26,102

Application Deadline

11/30

Academic Calendar

Quarter

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