<p>Just curious-- what determines the CC's listings of "Top Universities" and "Top Liberal Arts Colleges"? Is it based on the USNWR rankings or is it its own listing (and if so what variables are involved)?</p>
<p>Bump 
I’m curious myself.</p>
<p>It’s loosely based on the USNWR rankings (I think from 2001). They’ve been that way since the old forum (i.e. petitions to add more top colleges are pointless).</p>
<p>When I emailed them and asked they said it was based on “board activity”.</p>
<p>Now that’s interesting. You would think then it would be dynamic, with schools moving in or out of the list every once in a while! Maybe they ought to check the board activity every couple of months and update the list accordingly?</p>