Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University and Columbia University ranked higher, placing first through fourth in the rankings, respectively. The University of Pennsylvania ranked seventh, tied with Duke University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Brown University and Cornell University ranked 14th and 16th.
The College maintained its number one ranking in the undergraduate teaching category, a designation it has received five years in a row. The College shared the spot with Princeton ranking last year.
Dartmouth's high ranking in undergraduate teaching reflects one of its traditional strengths, spokesperson Justin Anderson said.
"At Dartmouth, we feel that we are providing students with the best teachers in the world and giving students the best education in the world," Anderson said. "It's satisfying when our hard work is recognized this way."
Dartmouth placed eighth on the U.S. News and World Report's "Best Value Schools" list, which takes into account both a university's academic quality and the net price of attendance for a student who receives the average amount of need-based financial aid. The College's average cost of attendance, at $63,282, is the second highest in the Ivy League, behind Columbia. The report stated that the average cost of attending Dartmouth after receiving financial aid is $21,587 per year.
The College placed seventh on the "High School Counselor Rankings" list, a spot it shared with Brown, Columbia, Johns Hopkins University and Penn. It tied for first in the category last year.
Anderson said administrators are not preoccupied with the report's exact rankings.
"Of all the lists, it's the same schools in a slightly different order from year to year, but these are all tremendous schools, and Dartmouth is pleased to be categorized with them," Anderson said.
Dartmouth ranked 14th in economic diversity among top 25 universities.
It also placed on the "Top Freshman Retention," "Most Students in a Fraternity" and "Most Students in a Sorority" lists.
The College ranked 11th in the national rankings in 2011 and 9th in 2010.
U.S. News changed its ranking methodology this year to reflect more outcome-based measures, according to a U.S. News and World Report press release.
Graduation and retention rates and standardized test scores increased in importance, while high school class standing decreased in weight.
"Measuring outcomes is critical to understanding how well a school retains and educates its students," U.S. News director of data research Robert Morse said in a press release.
