Many area colleges post high in rankings

Penn's Wharton School kept its No. 1 ranking for the best undergraduate business program. The country's most selective school? Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, which accepts only one out of 20 applicants. Among "up-and-coming" national universities, Drexel finished second, behind University of Maryland-Baltimore County, and the University of Delaware was No. 8, while Ursinus was No. 2 among liberal-arts colleges, behind Arkansas' Hendrix College. Undergrad teaching kudos went to four area liberal-arts colleges, with Swarthmore ranked eighth, Bryn Mawr ninth, and Haverford and Ursinus tied for 25th.

Bryn Mawr tied with Bucknell for No. 30 among national liberal-arts colleges, with other Pennsylvania and New Jersey schools finishing as follows: (38) Lafayette, (41) Franklin and Marshall, (47) Dickinson and Gettysburg, (71) Ursinus, (75) Muhlenberg, (79) Drew, and (81) Juniata. Lehigh was No. 37 among national universities, Penn State 47, Rutgers and University of Pittsburgh tied for 64, Drexel and Stevens Institute of Technology tied for 86, and Temple University was 132.

This year's rankings used opinions of college administrators, high school counselors, graduate and freshman retention rates among other factors.