College rankings are nothing new to the student community in the nation. But the Newsweek and Daily Beast's third annual college rankings have more to offer than regular rankings.

Rowdy, rigorous, beautiful, liberal, conservative- students have never been more spoiled when it comes to choosing the ideal campus for their studies. Hopefully, these rankings will help students and parents find the best fit for them. Check out the lists and see which school has made the grade in affordability, happiness, and more key metrics. In addition, Newsweek has ranked the nation's top fraternities and sororities for the first time.

Apparently, if given the chance to do it all again, nearly three fourths of college undergrads would make the same school choice; according to the survey of students attending America's top 700 universities and colleges.

According to the press release, to create the rankings Newsweek partnered with College Prowler and used data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the Institute for College Access & Success, PayScale, CollegeView, and the College Board. College Prowler also provided data on student contentment, politics, campus culture, and peer opinion. Usable and rigorous, these comparisons aim to give college-stressed students a bit of breathing room to make the right decision for them.

Newsweek assessed schools by specific factors, both practical and existential. Long-term affordability, student happiness, colleges for students with a politically liberal bent or a conservative philosophy, schools that provide the highest levels of academic challenge and those that create the most stressful environments were rated in the study.

Among the findings, Sacred Heart in Connecticut came out as the least affordable, West Virginia as the top party school, Warren Wilson as the most liberal school and Florida's Ave Maria University came out as the most conservative.

For the full list visit- https://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/2012/college-rankings.html