Colo.’s Best Colleges Definitive Rankings: Forbes, MONEY And More

DENVER, CO – Students across the country are returning to college this fall semester. And as we all know from our school days, there’s some serious thought that goes into where to spend all that money.

This year, Patch brought you a number of rankings released by national publications that use different methodologies to determine the best colleges in the country and in Colorado.

The usual names, like Harvard, Yale and Princeton fell among the top five spots on lists from Niche and Forbes. But one list from Money magazine that ranked best value colleges saw a large number of schools from the University of California system featured among the top. Yet another list from Kiplinger found the best schools for value in each state.

The Niche list was released the most recently on Aug. 27. Niche’s rankings of America’s best colleges places Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the top, followed by Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and Yale. The same colleges took the top five spots on the Forbes list, although in a slightly different order.

MONEY magazine named Princeton the best college for value in the U.S., followed by the University of California-San Diego, University of California-Irvine, University of California-Los Angeles and Stanford University.

Below are the top colleges in Colorado, according to each of the four lists:

Niche “2019 Best Colleges in America”

• 1) Colorado School of Mines
• 2) Colorado College
• 3) University of Denver
• 4) University of Colorado Boulder
• 5) Colorado State University
• 6) University of Colorado Boulder

Forbes “America’s Top Colleges for 2018”

• 1) United States Air Force Academy
• 2) Colorado College
• 3) Colorado School of Mines
• 4) University of Colorado, Boulder
• 5) University of Denver
• 6) Colorado State University, Fort Collins
• 7) Regis University
• 8) University of Colorado, Denver

MONEY Magazine "Best Colleges For Your Money 2018" U.S. rankings

• Colorado School of Mines
• Colorado College
• Colorado State University
• Regis University
• University of Denver
• University of Colorado Boulder

Kiplinger: Best Value Schools in the U.S.

• Colorado College, Colorado Springs, average debt at graduation: $20,742
• University of Denver, average debt at graduation: $31,077
• University of Colorado Boulder, average debt at graduation: $27,405

By Feroze Dhanoa, Patch National Staff

Photo via Brian A. Jackson/ Shutterstock

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