U.S. BEST COLLEGES RANKINGS

Princeton University tied Harvard University as the top-ranked National University in U.S. News & World Report's 2012 rankings of Best Colleges. Last year, Harvard stood alone as the best ranked National University, a category that encompasses large, research-oriented schools.

Though college sticker prices continue to skyrocket, and it will now cost some students more than $200,000 to attain a degree40 at the aforementioned schools and others ranked by U.S. News, data indicate that the value of a college degree hasn't waned. A recent report by the Georgetown University Center for Education and Workforce indicates that those with bachelor's degrees earn 75 percent more over their lifetimes than those who only have high school diplomas.

The Top 10 U.S. National Universities

1st,  Harvard University and Princeton University
3rd, Yale University
4th, Columbia University  
5th, California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University,
       University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania.
10.  Duke University