Top Public Colleges in The U.S.

There are many great public and private colleges and universities in the country. US News and World report regularly ranks the top schools in the country, and they have put out a list of the top public liberal arts schools in the Nation. The top three schools are military academies.

1. United States Military Academy West Point

2. United States Naval Academy Annapolis

3. Virginia Military Institute

4. St. Mary's College of Maryland

5. New College of Florida

West Point has a longstanding history of tradition and excellence. It is also known for being the best liberal arts college in the country, and as one of the best value colleges in the nation. The Naval academy at Annapolis also has excellent academic programs with a core curriculum that includes courses in engineering, science, and math, and the Virginia Military Institute had been #7 for their civil engineering program.

There is some question as to whether or not the service academies should be considered for rating in competition with colleges that are not fully funded with U.S. government appropriated funds. But they are in fact public colleges regardless.

New College of Florida is a state public honors college that is a national leader in liberal arts and sciences. St Mary's College is also a public honors college, and has only about 2,000 enrolled students.

You can get a high quality education at these public colleges, and the cost of attending is much lower than that of the countries top private schools.