Yale University

Like many other elite schools on the list, Yale offers students the opportunity to learn from some extraordinary minds, from Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller to Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Louise Gluck. It should be no surprise that Yale is one of the most selective schools in the country. But at the same time it's also one of the most generous: Yale promises to "meet the full demonstrated financial need" of students. As a result, 86% graduate without student debt. Although the faculty boasts some of the world's top scientific researchers, Yale offers students a traditional liberal arts education. There are no specific course requirements, but undergraduates must take courses in a wide variety of subjects and demonstrate strong skills in writing, quantitative reasoning, and foreign language. Class sizes are small, and the student-faculty ratio is 6:1. At about 97%, Yale is ever so slightly ahead of Princeton for the highest graduation rate in MONEY's rankings. Much of Yalies' social life revolves around the residential college to which they are assigned, and live in, starting freshman year. But students also form friendships across colleges through activities like a cappella, sports, campus publications, volunteer groups and -- for a select group -- senior-year secret societies, such as Skull and Bones.