What?! Stanford is Number 1, Princeton Number 3, Harvard Number 8?

"NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - California schools bested East Coast universities in Forbes' annual ranking of top U.S. colleges on Wednesday, with Stanford University and Pomona College capturing the top two spots.

"Stanford, a research and teaching university in Northern California's Silicon Valley, ranked No. 1, jumping from third place last year after scoring high marks for retention rates and high graduate starting salaries. It has 19,945 students and annual costs are $58,846.

"Princeton University in New Jersey, which was No. 1 last year, slipped to third place, followed by Yale University in Connecticut in fourth place and Columbia University in New York City at No. 5." READ MORE