U.S. News and World Report’s 2010 College Rankings places Middlebury at #4 among liberal arts schools behind Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore. Middlebury tied with Wellesley for fourth.
Middlebury was ranked fifth in the liberal arts category for the past three years (2007, 2008 and 2009). As noted in previous years, Middlebury is part of the Annapolis Group, which expresses concerns about the ranking system as a whole. A InsideHigherEd.com story yesterday took issue with the reputational survey portion of the US News rankings. The official US News methodology. While many call the rankings flawed, they still are the most widely cited and popular rankings of colleges and universities in the United States as well as for international students looking at US colleges.
Forbes Magazine ranks all higher education institutions together in a single survey (instead of categories) and dropped Middlebury from 17th in 2008 and 25th this year. The official Forbes methodology. Princeton Review does not do number rankings but instead has specific categories across institution types (here’s how we did). Prospective students are increasingly turning to other sites to learn more about and discuss Middlebury. College Confidential runs a whole discussion that seems to be absent of actual Middlebury students and is instead helped by various Midd parents. College Prowler is also a popular option similar to Princeton Review but a bit less institutional, giving Middlebury a D+ in nightlife but an A in Academics.
MiddBlog was nominated for best alternative news outlet on the US News Paper Trail Blog last year.
Update: Sierra Club ranks Middlebury #3 in “Cool Schools,” meaning the schools with “green credentials.” Princeton Review also had us on their “Green Honor Roll“