(Source: UC-Berkeley)Moving along our tour of the 10 best American universities, we arrive at number six. Here we find the first---and only---public institution on the list. Consider my Bias, perhaps, but private universities dominate this list, as they do in many others. And to me, one public stands far above the rest. Let's meet it.



#6: The University of California, BerkeleyHippies, tie-dyes, sit-ins, free-speech rallies, long hair and the Grateful Dead. All describe the University of California, Berkeley. Oh, wait...I'm thinking of the 1960s, not today. Then again, many people still identify Berkeley with that period.

Today's Berkeley is, of course, radically different. It's far more diverse, far less politically-charged, and no longer the bellwether for liberal causes. One element, though, still remains: academic excellence. Unlike some other top institutions, Berkeley displays strength not through its array of professional schools but through arts and sciences departments. English, classics, chemistry, history and political science, to name a few, are all exceptional. On the professional side, engineering stands out, as do the schools of law (Boalt Hall) and education, while business (Haas School) is good but not stellar. Berkeley has no school of medicine.

Like Chicago, which I ranked seventh, Berkeley has a very good but not elite undergraduate division. The university certainly attracts the best and brightest California kids, and does draw nationally and internationally. But about 90 percent of the entering class comes from in-state, so its talent pool is, relatively speaking, limited. Don't misunderstand---admission is very competitive. Yet it's not as competitive as it is for some Ivies and Stanford. And the undergraduate Berkeley has never been comparable to the graduate Berkeley.

That's why it ranks sixth.