US News and World Report have posted the college rankings for 2010 and the first three spots, as probably anticipated, were occupied by Harvard, Princeton and Yale. However, Harvard and Princeton tied for number one, while Yale was followed by Cal Tech, MIT, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania all tied at fourth as the America’s Best Colleges.

The ranking formula takes account of factors such as SAT scores, peer reputation, selectivity and alumni giving. Of course there are no huge movers and shakers in the 2010 top of US News college rankings and you can read about all of them – as well as other details on the college rankings after the jump!

Here is the official explanation on how the rankings are calculated:

The U.S. News & World Report rankings measure up to 15 indicators of academic performance for each college and university. Quantitative data that assess a college’s performance in areas such as graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, financial resources, student selectivity, and alumni giving account for 75 percent of a college’s score. The other 25 percent is based on a peer assessment survey the magazine sends to top officials at each school asking them to rate the other colleges in their category. Each year, the ranking methodology is reassessed to stay current with developments in higher education. For example, in recent years, U.S. News has incorporated more data about the proportion of low-income students that a school enrolls into its ranking measurements just as most selective colleges have made efforts to recruit more disadvantaged students.

It is also nice to read that, except for the regular readers, several local institutions rank among the top 50 colleges: Johns Hopkins (14th), Georgetown (23rd), the University of Virginia (24th) and the College of William and Mary (33rd) being amongst the “winners”.

So if you really wish to get yourself (or you children) some great education, it would be best to aim at the top of the list first!