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: U.S. News Releases 2012 Best Colleges

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Cambridge, MA

Princeton, NJ

#3 Yale University

New Haven, CT

#1 Williams College

Williamstown, MA

#2 Amherst College

Amherst, MA

Swarthmore, PA

These schools focus on undergraduate education but grant fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts disciplines.

Regional Universities offer a full range of undergrad programs and some master's programs but few doctoral programs.

The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal.

These schools consider good students with less than stellar test scores or so-so grade point averages.

See which schools making strides that earned them the most votes from other college administrators.

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