2026 USNWR LACs

[Anonymous]

Bowdoin is an exceptional school. And it has the best on-campus food of any LAC or college.

[Anonymous]

WASP is now WASB!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get how Reed doesn't crack this list. Isn't it widely considered more rigorous than F&M or Trinity?

I believe that Reed doesn't provide information to USNWR as they think these rankings are frivolous.

Reed is very prestigious intellectually and for grad school/fulbright/rhodes.

Oh please. Reed has had exactly 2 Rhodes winners in the last 25 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WASP is now WASB!

Williams
Amherst
Swarthmore
Army
Bowdoin
Iona

WASABI!

Close enough...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does that mean we need to shift to WASB?

WASP-B, pronounced waspy!

[Anonymous]

Not many wasps left

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why they even bother with a numerical list at this point, they should just use decile buckets.

Yes, either have rankings with an occasional tie. But 8 schools tied at 13? That’s ridiculous. Dispense with a numerical ranking and give us tiers, or change your methodology for meaningful differences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how does Williams stay at top year after year?

US News picks weightings that give results that they want. They've decided Williams and Princeton should be at the top, so, magically, they are, year after year.

This is really it. They don’t really change their methodology to result in massive fluctuations, just ones big enough to cause a little controversy. Forbes, on the other hand, ranks by completely different methodology year over year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's always been weird to me that people say WASP with the exclusion of Bowdoin, when Bowdoin is every bit as good as those

Bowdoin bounces around. I believe it’s been in the top 4 before, but then bumped up around in the 6-7 range. USNews didn’t change the methodology much this year after Morse retired. Wait until a year when they mix things up again.

No, it hasn't. It wouldn't surprise me if that changes in the coming years, but that's why it's never been WASP-B before. Now I think it's up for debate!

Bowdoin was 5 last year. No change. Others moved up or down quite significantly.

Pomona was tied with Bowdoin last year but it moved down to the group tied at 7 this year. These are very small meaningless changes.

Why is Pomona dropping? It is more competitive than ever, endowment is performing on par with everyone else, financial aid is as generous as ever…is it simply just a quirk of USNEWs this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pomona is the loser this year.

It shouldn’t matter and it won’t matter

Well, yes and no: 3 Claremont Colleges in the top 10. And everyone knows the best of the 3, just like everyone knows Princeton is not really the #1 uni, whatever US News says.

[Anonymous]

Can we get rid of the Military schools as liberal arts colleges? it’s silly. They are also too big in terms of enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good to see Annapolis and Air Force in the top 5. Not sure why West Point dropped all the way to 10. Should be higher.

In terms of perceived prestige, isn't West Point always first?

Yes. Says this West Point grad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get how Reed doesn't crack this list. Isn't it widely considered more rigorous than F&M or Trinity?

+1

And Oberlin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is hilarious. There is really nothing to debate or discuss about this list at all. They punked us all with their ties.

exactly. all the ties neutralize the notion of a ranking. the list is kind of useless with so many ties.

You’re almost there. Keep going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we get rid of the Military schools as liberal arts colleges? it’s silly. They are also too big in terms of enrollment.

Yes, they do not offer a traditional liberal arts education.