The US News & World Report Best National Colleges rankings returned this week, with Princeton University keeping its first-place position, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University in third. Stanford University and Yale University tied at No. The University of Chicago, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, Northwestern University, and the University of Pennsylvania rounded out the top 10. The California Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, and the University of Chicago moved up significantly. However, many college leaders disagree, saying that reducing institutions to a single number oversimplifies the value of higher education.