On U.S. News Glamour Lists, Public Colleges and Universities are Scarce at the Top

Most college students in the United States — more than seven of every 10 — attend public institutions of higher education. The reason is straightforward: These schools have larger capacity and lower tuition.
But the glamour lists on U.S. News and World Report — national universities and national liberal arts colleges — are perennially dominated by the privates. The 30th edition of the rankings was published Tuesday.
Out of 202 ranked schools on the national university list, 118 are public. But that figure is deceiving, with the publics clustered toward the middle and bottom of the rankings. Among the top 50 national universities, 16 are public. The highest-ranked is the University of California at Berkeley, 20th. The University of Virginia and the University of California at Los Angeles follow at 23rd…students interested in a non-military national liberal arts school must scroll far down the list to find the New College of Florida at 87th and St. Mary’s College of Maryland at 89th.