'Money' Names Princeton Best College In America

"Money" has named Princeton University as the top college in America.

The rankings, which were released by the magazine Monday, focus on institutions that provide the highest quality education for the best value.

Princeton ranked above every other institution of higher learning in the country, including Harvard and Yale. Harvard was ranked third, while Yale came in 12th.

According to the magazine's assessment, students at Princeton pay $61,300 annual tuition without aid. Many students receive aid, however, bringing the price of tuition down to $20,100 a year for a student that receives the average amount of aid.

But when a Princeton University student graduates, they can expect to make about $62,800 a year in an early career salary, the magazine estimates.

"While it carries a price tag of almost $65,000 a year, fewer than half of families actually pay that much. Princeton provides grants to 60% of its students, including full rides to those from families earning less than $60,000 a year and smaller grants to students from households earning as much as $200,000 a year," the magazine says.

Forbes, which released its college rankings last week, put Princeton at the top in New Jersey, and third nationwide. Stanford University, which ranked 10th on the "Money" list, was first on Forbes' assessment of American colleges.

RELATED: Here Are The Top Colleges In New Jersey, According To Latest Forbes Ranking

The top 10 colleges as ranked by Money include:

1 - Princeton University

2 - University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

3 - Harvard University

4- Rice University

5 - TIE: University of California - Berkeley and Brigham Young University - Provo

7 - Amherst College

8 - Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

9 - University of Virginia

10 - Stanford University

Click here to review the full rankings by "Money."

Image: Princeton University, via Smallbones, dedicated to the public domain