The 2017 Best Colleges In The United States For Students Who Want Top-Notch Academic Standing

It can be tedious for some students to take their pick among the numerous colleges in the United States. Those who are determined to study in schools with top-notch academic quality, however, will benefit from a 2017 Best Colleges list recently released by the U.S. News & World Report.

The annual 2017 Best Colleges Rankings from the U.S. News & World Report listed Princeton University as the undisputed Top 1 in the Best National Universities category for the fourth consecutive year. The New Jersey-based Ivy League university has a total undergraduate enrollment of 5,402, with 52 percent male students and 48 percent female students, the news outlet reveals.

Princeton University is followed by Harvard University, while the University of Chicago and Yale University both secured the third spot. Columbia University and Stanford University are both in the fifth place, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology landed at the seventh spot. Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania come in as the 8^th best colleges in the U.S., with Johns Hopkins University at the tenth spot.

Colleges in the National Universities category offer a whole range of undergraduate majors, as well as master's and doctoral programs. These schools are also dedicated to conducting innovative research.

The University of California-Berkeley, on the other hand, was named as the best public school among national universities, a position which the school held for 19 years. The United States Naval Academy, meanwhile, bagged the top public school spot among National Liberal Arts Colleges. Refer to the U.S. News & World Report for the complete rankings.

Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts is at the Top 1 spot in the Best National Liberal Arts Colleges category for the 14^th consecutive year. Other colleges that secured their spots in the same category are Amherst College (Top 2), Wellesley College (Top 3), Middlebury College (Top 4), and Swarthmore College (Top 4).

The 2017 Best Colleges list also displays schools with the most number of Campus Diversity, Economic Diversity, and the Most International Students. The rankings also included the Best Colleges for Veterans, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Most Innovative Schools, A-plus Schools for B Students, and the best schools for students seeking to study undergraduate engineering and business programs.

Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer of the U.S. News & World Report, said both students and their parents should study the list and refer to the data and information it provided. This way, they will easily find and narrow down colleges that cater to their specific needs -- both academically and financially.