(Source: Williams College)U.S. News released its 2006 rankings of colleges and universities today. The highly-anticipated issue will surely accomplish two things, as always. First, it will sell plenty of copies. And second, it will enrage higher education leaders, especially those who believe they should rank higher (while discrediting the notion of rankings altogether). Here, then, are the magazine's conclusions:



National Universities1. Harvard
1. Princeton (tie)
3. Yale
4. Pennsylvania
5. Duke
5. Stanford (tie)
7. Caltech
7. MIT (tie)
9. Columbia
9. Dartmouth (tie)

Liberal Arts Colleges1. Williams
2. Amherst
3. Swarthmore
4. Wellesley
5. Carleton
6. Bowdoin
6. Pomona (tie)
8. Haverford
8. Middlebury (tie)
10. Claremont McKenna
10. Davidson (tie)

You can also find rankings of master's degree universities, undergraduate business and engineering programs, and comprehensive colleges, as well as sub-categories for each section.

Happy comparison shopping.