HispanicBusiness

Princeton returned to the top of the heap on U.S. News and World Report's 26th annual college and university rankings, released today, tying Harvard for the No. 1 spot.

Last year, Harvard was the sole leader for the first time in eight years, during which Princeton either led the pack or tied for first.

All in all, though, the controversial list showcased few major changes or shockers, according to media reports.

Placing third this year was Yale University, followed by four colleges tying for fourth place: Cal Tech, MIT, Stanford and University of Pennsylvania.

Topping the list of public national universities this year was UC Berkeley, followed by a two-way tie between the University of Virginia and UCLA.

The list is based on a multitude of factors gleaned from either the magazine's annual survey, each school's Web site or from surveys of faculty members from outside any given contending school.

Among the most important factors are peer assessment, student graduation and retention rate, SAT scores, selectivity and per-student spending.

The list has come under fire for many reasons, such as assigning too much weight to any given school's reputation, which Lynn O'Shaughnessy of CBS MoneyWatch.com says accounts for 25 percent of the score.

"Since the reputation of Harvard, Princeton and the rest of the Ivy League gang is excellent no matter what crazy things they do, they begin each rankings cycle with a huge head start," she wrote today.