Harvard topped the national U.S. News college rankings for 2011, but these days most students are just looking for a good deal on a quality education. Patricia Drury/Flickr photo.

The U.S. News college rankings were released Tuesday, and guess what: Harvard is number one … again. Princeton is in second place … once more. On a podium bearing a distinct Ivy League bias, Yale is number three. But those are the national college rankings: a predictable list of well-moneyed heavyweights that is often criticized as meaningless by folks in academia. However, the U.S. News Best Colleges 2011 offers a useful matrix that students and parents can use to help decide which school is best for them, even though some higher education pundits would disagree.

How U.S. News and World Report ranks colleges

The U.S. News college rankings sort schools into categories for comparison. Best Colleges 2011 groups American colleges and universities by factors such as the highest level of degrees conferred by discipline. The 1,400-plus accredited schools were divided into four main groupings: National Universities, National Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities and Regional Colleges. The schools in the Regional Universities and Regional Colleges categories are placed into four geographic regions: North, South, Midwest and West. Data on up to 16 indicators of academic quality are gathered from each school and tabulated. Colleges are ranked in their categories by their total weighted score.

Critics think national college rankings are a joke

The U.S. News and World Report college rankings are just one of many such compendiums of higher education. Princeton Review offers a comprehensive evaluation of U.S. schools, but the only thing about the Princeton Review list that gets any attention are the Princeton top party schools. Higher education critics take a list like the U.S. News Best Colleges 2011 more seriously. But Lynn O’Shaughnessy at CBS MoneyWatch said the rankings are a joke. She writes that U.S. News doesn’t try to measure the type of learning taking place at schools across the country.  Instead U.S. News and World Report is simply conducting a high-stakes beauty contest, where 25 percent of each school’s score is based solely on its reputation.

Value is the most important factor today

For the past 10 years, Harvard or Princeton have taken turns or shared the No. 1 spot on the U.S. News college rankings every year since 2001. But for the majority of students, David Gura at NPR writes that topping the national college rankings  is irrelevant. Colleges are cutting budgets and capping enrollment. More students are applying to more schools. College admissions are more competitive than ever. U.S. News college rankings evaluate schools by academic reputation, graduation, freshman retention, faculty resources, alumni giving and financial resources. But in the increasingly expensive world of higher education, finding value is still one of the most important — if not the most important — factors in choosing a school.

Harvard

Choosing a college is an important, expensive decision. Several publications every year come out with college rankings, and U.S. News and World Report has named the best colleges to attend in 2010.

Just as you want to get the best auto financing you possibly can, you must pick a college that gives you the best education you can afford. U.S. News and World Report college rankings conveniently include a “best values” category. Here are the top three schools listed under Best Values in the U.S. News and World Report college rankings for 2010.

Harvard University

U.S. News and World Report college rankings say that Harvard University is number one when it comes to value. This was confusing to me because Harvard is one of the most expensive schools in the country, but it turns out that 57 percent of the students attending Harvard get needs-based grants, and the average discount from total cost is 73 percent.

So, basically, if you can meet Harvard standards well enough to get accepted, the school will help you afford it. I guess that explains why it is number one in value on the U.S. News and World Report college rankings.

Yale University

For similar reasons, Yale came in second place on the best values list on U.S. News and World Report college rankings. Here’s an explanation of the methodology from the U.S. News web site:

Ratio of quality to price: A school’s overall score in the America’s Best Colleges 2010 rankings was divided by the 2008-2009 academic year net cost to a student receiving the average need-based scholarship or grant. The higher the ratio of a school’s America’s Best Colleges 2010 edition rank to the discounted total cost less the average 2008-2009 academic year need-based scholarship or grant, the better the value. Total cost equals the sum of 2008-2009 academic year tuition, room and board, fees, books, and other expenses, including transportation.

Other parts of the Best Value equation include how many students get need-based scholarships and average discounts.

Princeton University

Third on the list of best values among national universities is Princeton University. At this point, one must consider the fact that even receiving a hefty discount on the cost of attending Harvard, Yale or Princeton leaved one with an expensive bill.

I have read several studies that talk about salaries after college compared to the cost of a specific university, and I definitely recommend going to a state school and paying residential tuition instead of paying the cost of going to a private university. But who am I to argue with U.S. News and World Report college rankings for 2010? If you check out rankings.usnews.com/best-colleges/, you can also view college rankings base on highest acceptance rate, highest graduation rate and students older than 25.

There also are categories for economic diversity, eithnic diversity, freshman retention and most and least debt.