Harvard rated No. 1 university in U.S.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Harvard University has pulled ahead of Princeton for sole possession of first place among national universities in the U.S. News & World Report's 2011 rankings.

The news magazine's Best Colleges 2011 listed Harvard alone in first place this year after being tied with Princeton University for the No. 1 spot last year.

Under the rankings for colleges, Williams College remained the nation's top-ranked national liberal arts institution, one place ahead of No. 2 Amherst College.

The University of California-Berkeley was listed as the top-ranked public school followed by the University of California-Los Angeles.

Rounding out the top five public universities are the University of Virginia, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

U.S. News & World Report has published its rankings of U.S. colleges and universities for 27 years.

The magazine said the data it collects aid students of various academic and socioeconomic backgrounds in selecting institutions of higher learning.