Amherst College leads the 2010 NCSA Athletic Recruiting Collegiate Power Rankings, which assess the academic and athletics standards of NCAA athletic programs. Developed to help prospective student-athletes and their families evaluate the particular strengths of the top colleges and universities at the Division I, II and III levels, the list of rankings from 1 to 100 includes fewer than six percent of all colleges and universities. "Our hope is to educate student-athletes and their parents on the importance of evaluating schools that will provide the education for an enriched, successful career after college, in addition to athletic success," says NCSA Athletic Recruiting CEO and founder Chris Krause.
Most of the colleges and universities rounding out the top 10 do not come from major conferences, nor (with a few exceptions) are they considered athletic powerhouses: Williams College, Middlebury College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Washington University in St. Louis, Princeton University, Duke University, Tufts University and the University of Chicago.
The Collegiate Power Rankings are calculated by averaging the academic rankings by U.S. News & World Report, the strength of the athletic departments by the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup ranking and each school's student-athlete graduation rate. For a complete list of the rankings, click here.
