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College Consensus Publishes Top Consensus Ranked Colleges and Universities for 2019

  • 07/08/19

CHAPEL HILL, NC – College Consensus, a unique college ratings website that aggregates publisher rankings and student reviews, has published their ranking of the Best Colleges and Universities 2019.

To identify the Best Colleges and Universities 2019, College Consensus combined the latest results from the most respected college rankings with thousands of real student reviews to produce a unique consensus score for each school. According to Consensus editors, "College Consensus gathers the publisher rankings and student reviews from around the web and distills the results into simple, easy to understand scores so students can quickly and easily compare schools."

As the editors explain, "The College Consensus methodology pulls together rankings from U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, and Wallethub, averaging all of a given school's numbers to get the Publisher Rating. Then we average student reviews from sites like Cappex, Niche, Student Review, and more, to get the full picture of how students see their colleges, which we call the Student Review Rating. Put them together, and we have the College Consensus." Learn more about the College Consensus rankings methodology here.

To help prospective college students and their families evaluate the educational options open to them, College Consensus has identified the best colleges and universities, according to the combination of published rankings and student reviews. The top 10, out of nearly 500, are:

  1. Yale University – New Haven, CT
  2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Cambridge, MA
  3. Princeton University – Princeton, NJ
  4. Stanford University – Stanford, CA
  5. Harvard University – Cambridge, MA
  6. Williams College – Williamstown, MA
  7. Amherst College – Amherst, MA
  8. Pomona College – Claremont, CA
  9. Bowdoin College – Brunswick, ME
  10. Brown University – Providence, RI

"The top universities ranking is the real deal," according to Consensus editors; "the ranking of the best colleges nationwide, full stop. That's because the College Consensus method brings together the colleges and universities that have the best schools ranking based on publisher and student ratings, all arranged regardless of size, location, form, or classification." However, the editors explain, "It's not mixing apples and oranges—it's crunching the numbers, pure and simple, to see which colleges the experts admire, and which ones the students love. College Consensus brings it all into view on an equal playing field."

For readers who may be surprised by the showing of their alma mater, and administrators who are thrilled with the recognition, the editors explain, "This ranking of the best colleges will look different from other similar rankings, simply because it's an aggregate ranking." With College Consensus, "Some colleges that get overlooked in other rankings get their chance to shine; some universities that hog all the glory get their proper place in the ecosystem." In the Best Colleges and Universities ranking, alumni loyalty and affection can make up for a lower national profile, while strong rankings among their peers can prove that small student bodies are not an impediment to greatness in teaching, research, and professionalization. For those reasons, a small liberal arts college can stand toe-to-toe with the Ivy League confidently as the best of the best in the College Consensus ranking.

College Consensus is a new approach to college rankings. We combine the latest results from the most respected college ranking systems with thousands of real student review scores. College Consensus also offers expert advice and guidance on all aspects of college life, from finding the perfect college, to getting accepted, paying for it, and finding your professional path after graduation.

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