Rankings for Colleges and Universities has been in existence probably since the founding of the first three educational institutions in the early American colonial era. If you are curious about which three were first, it all started with New College (known know as Harvard) in 1636, College of William and Mary in 1693, and Collegiate School (Yale) in 1701. If you want to see about others, Wikepedia has a nice chart for your perusal.

Ok.. enough of the history lesson..

Following tradition of ranking educational institutions, the Princeton Review has released the top 20 value picks for Colleges and Universities for 2010. You may be in disbelief about some of the names below but keep in mind that these are the Best Value schools and not necessarily the Cheapest.

Enjoy!

PUBLIC

1. University of Virginia (Charlottesville)
2. City University of New York – Hunter College (New York, N.Y.)
3. New College of Florida (Sarasota)
4. Florida State University (Tallahassee)
5. University of Colorado-Boulder
6. State University of New York-Binghamton
7. University of Georgia (Athens)
8. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg)
9. Texas A&M University (College Station)
10. University of Oklahoma (Norman)

PRIVATE

1. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, Pa.)
2. Harvard College (Cambridge, Mass.)
3. Wesleyan College (Macon, Ga.)
4. Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.)
5. Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)
6. Williams College (Williamstown, Mass.)
7. Rice University (Houston, Texas)
8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.)
9. Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.)
10. Wellesley College (Wellesley, Mass.)