(Source: Yale University)Finally we've reached the Big Three in our countdown of America's best universities. But as you'll discover, it's not the same Big Three folks are used to seeing. In fact, my Big Two pairing parts from conventional wisdom. Enough suspense already. Let's meet Curly.



#3: YaleArguably the best undergraduate education in America. The best law school, bar none (yes, pun intended). A world-class medical school and teaching hospital. Probably the best drama program going. A divine divinity school. Ditto for schools of art and music. Enviable graduate programs in English, history, political science, economics, American studies and foreign languages. Yale oozes prestige, power, privilege and academic excellence. Seemingly every presidential candidate in recent memory has owned a degree from the place. Perhaps it's become a requirement.

Simply put, Yale has always ranked, formally and informally, among the world's elite institutions.

So why third? A few shortcomings to mention. Its business school, or school of management, is okay, but not stellar. Engineering has traditionally been weak. Some arts and sciences programs, notably sociology and astronomy, have been targeted for retrenchment. Yale also waters down its quality by offering terminal master's degree programs for those willing to pay full tuition. And then there's the problem of location---New Haven, a crime-ridden, ugly city that deters some top students from attending.

Again, we're nitpicking here, but we have to draw some distinctions among the top few places to justify the order. Yale still ranks near the top of the heap, but one competitor has bumped it down a notch and another remains unreachable.

That's why it ranks third.