Washington Monthly rates schools based on their “contribution to the public good” in three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and Ph.D.s), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).
The rankings are dominated by the nation’s great public universities, which comprise 11 of the top 15 schools.
Washington Monthly also ranks schools in terms of “Best Bang for the Buck” – the economic value students receive per dollar. The top 50 schools are all publics.
See the overall rankings of National Universities here. See the “Best Bang for the Buck” rankings here.