U.S. News & World Report recently issued its annual rankings of the best colleges and universities in the United States. In addition to its rankings of the best national universities and liberal arts colleges, the magazine ranks regional colleges and universities and also the nation’s women’s colleges.
Wellesley College in Massachusetts — the top-ranked women’s college — was listed as the 10th best liberal arts college in the country. Wellesley’s ranking has declined from the past two years, when the college was tied for seventh place. Three years ago, Wellesley was tied for fifth place.
Among women’s colleges, Barnard College in New York City was the next highest-ranked liberal arts institution (tied for 19th place with Middlebury College in Vermont), followed by Smith College in Massachusetts in 22nd place. Last year, Barnard and Smith tied for 13th place. Two years ago, the women’s colleges tied for 14th place.
Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania was the fourth-highest-ranked women’s college at 31st place (down from 30th last year), followed by Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and Spelman College in Atlanta in a tie for 34th place (down from 29th and up from 37th, respectively). Scripps College in California came in at 38th (down from 37th last year).
Rounding out the country’s top ten women’s colleges are Agnes Scott College in Georgia (tied for 62nd with five other institutions), the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota (tied for 68th with three other institutions), and Saint Mary’s College in Indiana (tied for 78th with one other institution).