<p>If you rule out selectivity (input), then the best objective measure of academic quality is the US News over- and under-performance. Using this measure of quality for the top 50, controlling for selectivity (input), then the best education can be found at:
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
Notre Dame
Berkeley
Georgetown
Virginia
UCLA
Michigan
Tufts
Brandeis
Lehigh
William and Mary
Boston College
Illinois
U Washington
UC Santa Barbara
Texas
Syracuse</p>
<p>Penn State has a graduation rate that is 22% higher than expected for their selectivity. I think they are lying about their graduation rate. </p>
<p>The state schools have that low tuition advantage. Is that part of educational quality? Maybe in a costs-benefits sense.</p>
<p>Among the LACs, the best would be:
Amherst
Wellesley
Carleton
Grinnell
Vassar
Colgate
Hamilton
Smith
Naval Academy
West Point
Colorado College
Mt Holyoke
Bucknell
Kenyon
Holy Cross
Lafayette
Occidental
Union
Connecticut College
Skidmore
Gettysburg
DePauw
Pitzer</p>
<p>But, I don’t think you can accurately identify educational quality while ignoring selectivity. Is St. Michaels College in Vermont (+ 14% overperformance) better academically than Harvard? Without taking selectivity into account, you are left with “Which schools do the best job with the students they get?”.</p>
<p>And, Tech schools are at a disadvantage then because their curricula are harder.</p>