Forbes/CCAP Best Southern Schools

By Jonathan Leirer

While the South has a decent showing with 25 schools in the top 100 Forbes/CCAP list of the Best Colleges of America for 2009-2010, it falls short in the top 50 – with only five – and fails to place a single school into the top 10. It would appear that the nation’s premiere college and Universities are not located in the South. However, the area where the South throws some serious weight around is in the Best Buy Rankings. With 51 in the top 100, 26 in the top 50 and 9 in the top 15 Best Buy Schools located in the South, it is apparent that the South is the place to be if you’re looking for more “Bang for your Buck.”

Using the criteria determined by Forbes/CCAP, the best institution for undergraduate higher education in the South is Centre College, who also places 29th in the Best Buy – Southern, Colleges rankings. The distribution of top Colleges and Universities in the south is broad, with no state or urban area demonstrating a marked share in the rankings. Public universities also have a good showing in the South, especially in the Best Buy rankings. Sixteen of the top 25 Southern Best Buy schools are public, while all but 7 of the top 25 Best Southern Colleges are private. The best value in the south goes to Berea College, a vanguard in college affordability, Berea College charges no tuition and explicitly targets underprivileged Appalachian youth. One institution which ranks in the top 3 in both rankings for the south is the United States Naval Academy. Affordable and proficient, while the U.S. Naval Academy might not be for everyone, it is certainly a remarkable university.

25 Best Southern Colleges*

1. Centre College (14)
2. United States Naval Academy (30)
3. Washington and Lee University (34)
4. Rice University (43)
5. College of William and Mary (48)
6. Hampden-Sydney College (54)
7. Emory University (59)
8. Davidson College (60)
9. New College of Florida (61)
10. Rhodes College (62)
11. University of Virginia (64)
12. Salem College (67)
13. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (68))
14. Sweet Briar College (69)
15. Wofford College (71)
16. Vanderbilt University (77)
17. Virginia Military Institute (79)
18. Hendrix College (81)
19. Berea College (84)
20. Transylvania University (85)
21. St. John's College (89)
22. Centenary College of Louisiana (90)
23. St. Mary's College of Maryland (93)
24. Sewanee—University of the South (94)
25. Hollins University (95)

25 Best Buy - Southern Colleges*

1. Berea College (1)
2. New College of Florida (2)
3. United States Naval Academy (6)
4. University of Florida (7)
5. Florida State University (11)
6. University of Georgia (12)
7. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (13)
8. Salem College (14)
9. Wesleyan College (15)
10. The Citadel (16)
11. Mississippi State University (18)
12. University of Virginia (19)
13. Lyon College (20)
14. Virginia Military Institute (21)
15. University of Texas, Austin (22)
16. Mississippi College (24)
17. Georgia Institute of Technology (27)
18. Claflin University (31)
19. College of William and Mary (33)
20. Centenary College of Louisiana (38)
21. Millsaps College (39)
22. Texas A&M University, College Station (40)
23. Erskine College (42)
24. University of North Carolina, Asheville (43)
25. Middle Tennessee State University (47)



*Numbers in parenthesis are from the national ranking.