U-M Tops Forbes' Best Colleges List In Michigan

The University of Michigan is the state’s top school, according to Forbes 2017 list of best institutions. The rest of Michigan’s top five may surprise some. Kalamazoo College is ranked second, for example, and Hillsdale College No. 3. Michigan State University is ranked fourth and Hope College rounds out the top five.

Harvard University reclaimed its place as the number one college in America on Forbes' annual list. The 2017 list, which was released on Wednesday, looks at what institutions give back to students on the money they spend on a college education.

This year's rankings, as Forbes explains, were created to better align with what the magazine values most, "superior return on investment; high impact, leadership and success; and a first-rate student-consumer experience." Forbes describes the rankings as "fiscally minded" and says they does not take into account things like campus atmosphere, Greek life, sports etc.

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The methodology favors variables like "alumni salary, graduation rate and student satisfaction." Post-graduate success accounted for 35 percent of the ranking; how effectively students at each school avoid or pay back student loan debt accounts for 20 percent of the rankings, as does the student experience. Graduation rate and academic success both account for 12.5 percent. (You can see the full methodology here.)

Stanford, Yale, Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology comprise the rest of the top five nationally, according to Forbes. Here’s a look at Michigan’s institutions with national ranking listed in parentheses:

• University of Michigan (38)
• Kalamazoo College (141)
• Hillsdale College (141)
• Michigan State University (178)
• Hope College (230)
• Calvin College (233)
• Michigan Technical University (266)
• Albion College (307)
• Kettering College (320)
• Andrews University (545)
• Western Michigan University (575)
• Oakland University (591)
• Central Michigan University (606)
• Wayne State University (621)

Photo of the University of Michigan Law School by Jason Crotty via Flickr Commons