2012 Forbes 650 Top Colleges (Complete List)

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Forbes, one of the leading websites, organizations and magazines in finance, is recognizing what is already known - Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) institutions are among the leading academic institutions as the organizations' recently released list of the "650 Best Colleges" in the nation is peppered with league institutions.

Among the Top 10 schools in the nation according to Forbes, eight field either a varsity or collegiate club water polo program in the league to account for a total of 13 men's and women's water polo teams.

Topping the rankings is Williams College, which fields both men's and women's collegiate club programs in the CWPA.  Reigining CWPA Eastern Champion in both men's and women's varsity water polo Princeton University stands second on the list, one place in front of the United States Military Academy (Army) which fields a men's collegiate club.

Amherst College (men's/women's collegiate club) and Stanford University (men's collegiate club) complete the All-CWPA Top Five, while Harvard University (men's/women's varsity) begin the final five positions in the Top 10.

Following Haverford College and the University of Chicago, which do not sponsor a water polo club, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (men's varsity/women's collegiate club) and the United States Air Force Academy (men's/women's collegiate club) rate at No. 9 and 10, respectively.

Overall, 84 CWPA institutions are rated among the Top 200 on Forbes' list which features a total of 650 schools.

Forbes' annual ranking of the 650 best undergraduate institutions focuses on the things that matter the most to students: quality of teaching, great career prospects, graduation rates and low levels of debt. Unlike other lists, the list ignores ephemeral measures such as school "reputation" and evaluates the college purchase as a consumer would:  Is it worth spending as much as a quarter of a million dollars for this degree?  The rankings are prepared exclusively for Forbes by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a Washington, D.C. think tank founded by Ohio University economist Richard Vedder.

The rankings are based on five general categories: Post Graduate success (30%), which evaluates alumni pay and prominence, Student Satisfaction (27.5%), which includes professor evaluations and freshman to sophomore year retention rates, Debt (17.5%), which penalizes schools for high student debt loads and default rates, Four Year Graduation Rate (17.5%) and Competitive Awards (7.5%), which rewards schools whose students win prestigious scholarships and fellowships like the Rhodes, the Marshall and the Fulbright.  The complete methodology is available in .pdf format here.

Top 100 Colleges (Forbes.com)
1. Williams College (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
2. Princeton Univeristy (Men's/Women's Varsity)
3. United States Military Academy (Men's Collegiate Club)
4. Amherst College (Men's Collegiate Club)
5. Stanford University (Men's Collegiate Club)
6. Harvard University (Men's/Women's Varsity)
7. Haverford College
8. University of Chicago
9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Men's Varsity/Women's Collegiate Club)
10. United States Air Force Academy (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
11. Northwestern University
12. Claremont-McKenna College
13. California Institute of Technology
14. Yale University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
15. Carleton College (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
16. Swarthmore College
17. United States Naval Academy (Men's Varsity/Men's Collegiate Club)
18. University of Notre Dame (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
19. Wellesley College (Women's Collegiate Club)
20. Colby College (Men's Collegiate Club)
21. Brown University (Men's/Women's Varsity)
22. Duke University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
23. Pomona College
24. Vassar College
25. Washington & Lee University
26. Boston College (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
27. College of the Holy Cross
28. Rice University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
29. Union College
30. Dartmouth College (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
31. Colorado College (Women's Collegiate Club)
32. Bates College (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
33. Lafayette College
34. Centre College
35. Wesleyan University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
36. Whitman College
37. Colgate University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
38. Bowdoin College (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
39. Tufts University (Men's Collegiate Club)
40. Middlebury College (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
41. Scripps College
42. Columbia University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
43. Kenyon College
44. Harvey Mudd College
45. Emory University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
46. University of Virginia (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
47. Georgetown University (Men's Collegiate Club)
48. Bucknell University (Men's/Women's Varsity/Men's Collegiate Club)
49. College of William & Mary
50. DePauw University
51. Cornell University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
52. University of Pennsylvania (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
53. Vanderbilt University (Men's Collegiate Club)
54. Bryn Mawr College
55. University of California-Los Angeles (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
56. Smith College
57. Sewanee: The University of the South
58. Barnard College
59. Dickinson College
60. Hillsdale College
61. Davidson College
62. Connecticut College (Men's/Women's Varsity)
63. Lawrence University
64. St. Lawrence University
65. Virginia Military Institute
66. Wheaton College (Women's Varsity)
67. Santa Clara University
68. Grinnell College (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
69. Skidmore College
70. University of California-Berkeley (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
71. Hamilton College (Men's Collegiate Club)
72. Oberlin College
73. Wofford College
74. University of North Carolina (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
75. Rhodes College
76. Westmont College
77. Wake Forest University
78. St. Olaf College
79. Knox College (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
80. Trinity College
81. Furman University
82. Boston University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
83. Mount Holyoke College
84. Saint Norbert College
85. Saint Anselm College
86. Wabash College
87. Hobart William Smith Colleges
88. Saint Michaels College (Men's Collegiate Club)
89. Hampden-Sydney College
90. University of Minnesota-Morris
91. Brandeis University
92. Reed College
93. University of Michigan (Women's Varsity/Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
94. Transylvania University
95. Kalamazoo College
96. Williamette University
97. United States Coast Guard Academy (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
98. Carnegie Mellon University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
99. College of Wooster
100. Gettysburg College
101. Johns Hopkins University (Men's Varsity)
102. Macalester College (Women's Varsity/Men's Collegiate Club)
103. University of Dallas
104. Pepperdine University (Women's Collegiate Club)
105. University of Redlands
106. Hendrix College
107. Washington College (Md.)
108. Ursinus College
109. Denison University
110. Muhlenberg College
111. Occidental College
112. St. Mary's College of Maryland
113. Washington University in St. Louis (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
114. Saint John's Univeristy (Minn.) (Men's Collegiate Club)
115. Albion College
116. Trinity University (Texas)
117. Loyola University in Maryland (Men's Collegiate Club)
118. Wells College
119. Villanova University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
120. Illinois Wesleyan University
121. Berea College
122. Colorado School of Mines
123. Southern Methodist University
124. Lehigh University (Men's Collegiate Club)
125. Clark University
126. Southwestern University
127. Presbyterian College
128. University of California-Davis (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
129. University of Richmond (Women's Collegiate Club)
130. Pitzer College
131. University of Rochester
132. Hanover College
133. Rollins College
134. University of Washington (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
135. Fisk University
136. Loyola Marymount University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
137. University of Florida (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
138. Franklin & Marshall College (Men's Collegiate Club)
139. Luther College
140. University of California-Irvine (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
141. Salem College
142. Drew University
143. Juniata College
144. Principia College
145. Grove City College (Women's Varsity/Men's Collegiate Club)
146. Moravian College
147. University of Illinois (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
148. Susquehanna University
149. Thomas Aquinas College
150. Washington & Jefferson College (Men's/Women's Varsity)
151. George Washington University (Men's/Women's Varsity)
152. Lebanon Valley College
153. Allegheny College
154. Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science & Art
155. American University
156. Providence College
157. Wartburg College
158. United States Merchant Marine Academy (Men's Collegiate Club)
159. Sarah Lawrence College
160. James Madison University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
161. University of California-San Diego (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
162. Fordham University (Men's Varsity)
163. Beloit College
164. Asbury College
165. University of Southern California (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
166. Wheaton College (Mass.)
167. University of California-Santa Barbara (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
168. Hiram College
169. Lake Forest College
170. University of Scranton
171. Creighton University
172. Saint Mary's College of California (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
173. Gordon College
174. The College of New Jersey
175. College of the Atlantic
176. University of San Francisco
177. Bethel University
178. Texas A&M University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
179. Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
180. Mount St. Mary's College
181. Seattle Pacific University
182. Pennsylvania State University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
183. The College of Idaho
184. Xavier University
185. The University of Texas (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
186. University of California-Santa Cruz (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
187. University of Denver (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
188. Millsaps College
189. Wittenberg University
190. Tulane University
191. College of the Ozarks
192. Whitworth University
193. Florida State University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
194. Hope College
195. University of San Diego (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)
196. State Universty of New York-Binghamton (Men's Collegiate Club)
197. Stonehill College
198. Linfield College
199. University of Portland (Women's Collegiate Club)
200. New York University (Men's/Women's Collegiate Club)

The remainder of the list is available on Forbes.com by CLICKING HERE.