22 Illinois Schools Make Forbes’ Top Colleges List Of 2018

ILLINOIS — The University of Chicago and Northwestern University were named the top two colleges in the Midwest by Forbes magazine as part of the publication's annual rankings of the best universities in the country. Nationally, both schools earned spots in the top 20, and they were among 25 Illinois colleges that made the magazine's list, which was released this week.

This is the second consecutive year the University of Chicago, which has its main campus in Hyde Park, topped Forbes' list of the best Midwestern colleges. While U of C held on to its regional standing from last year, the school stumbled slightly when it came to its national ranking, dropping two spots from No. 16 in 2017 to No. 18 this year.

If U of C missed a step over the past 12 months, then Northwestern used that same time to make great strides on Forbes' list. The Evanston-based college vaulted past the University of Notre Dame to capture the No. 3 spot among Midwest schools, and it landed at No. 20 nationally, up from No. 28 last year.

Here are the Illinois schools that made Forbes’ list:

• 18. University of Chicago
• 20. Northwestern University
• 56. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• 112. Wheaton College
• 202. Illinois Institute of Technology
• 206. Illinois Wesleyan University
• 277. Loyola University Chicago
• 280. Knox College
• 294. University of Illinois, Chicago
• 302. Bradley University
• 382. Augustana College
• 414. Elmhurst College
• 425. Lake Forest College
• 462. North Central College
• 557. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
• 566. Benedictine University
• 599. Illinois College
• 603. Northern Illinois University
• 608. Millikin University
• 615. Aurora University
• 620. Southern Illinois University Carbondale
• 621. Western Illinois University

Harvard University is once again No.1 on Forbes’ annual national list. The rest of the magazine's top 10 includes:

• Yale University
• Stanford University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Princeton University
• California Institute of Technology
• University of Pennsylvania
• Brown University
• Dartmouth College
• Duke University

After the Illinois one-two punch of U of C and Northwestern, Forbes' Midwest list consists of Notre Dame (No. 21, nationally), University of Michigan (22) and Washington University in St. Louis (35).

Forbes touts its list as valuing “outputs” more than “inputs,” eschewing traditional measures such as SAT scores and acceptance rates. Instead, the magazine uses a methodology that consists of alumni salaries, college debt and retention and graduation rates to compile its rankings. (The list's full methodology can be found here.)

The magazine noted the strong showing by California colleges on the list, highlighting the University of California, Berkeley, which went up 15 spots from last year to No. 14. Forbes said it was the first time a state school was that high on its list.

The magazine also lauded Purdue University for reforms that have reduced the cost of attending the college and doubled its undergraduate enrollment.

Go to Forbes' top colleges page for the magazine's complete 2018 list. Read Forbes’ full report about the top colleges of 2018.

University of Chicago (Image via Google Earth)