The colleges we chose this year had to meet two criteria. First, they had to meet our standards for academic excellence within their region. Second, we had to be able to survey their students anonymously, either through our online survey, or through our paper survey, which we distribute and collect on campus. In many instances, we are able to contact students on our own and collect enough student surveys to produce a representative, opinion-driven profile for a particular college. But oftentimes we rely on a college's administrators to help us get in contact with its students. Therefore, if some excellent colleges seem conspicuously absent from our list, it may be the result of unwillingness on the part of administrators to assist us and our inability to collect a sufficient number of student surveys from the school through other means.

So explore each region and the colleges within them; read what students had to say about their schools in the Students Say profiles. But don't forget to take our information on these colleges as you should take information from any source--as input that reflects the values and opinions of others, which may be helpful to you as you form your own opinion. The Best Colleges: Region by Region is a starting point, a tool that can help you to probe the surface and get a sense of the college experience at a particular school. You must also, of course, do your own investigation, refer to other sources, visit the campuses, and develop your own list of best colleges for you. Only then will this feature be the useful tool that it is intended to be.