Aug 27, 2015 08:14 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The best colleges in the nation are often associated with low acceptance rates and high tuition, but they are the best for a reason.

Many schools that made College Factual's ranking for the upcoming academic year are highly selective and expensive, but also boast near-perfect rates for freshmen retention and graduation. These schools also employ a majority of their professors full time and can keep classrooms small through their selectivity.

Bill Phelan, co-founder and CEO of College Factual, told USA Today College the data website was designed to inform prospective students. He said applying to such elite institutions should be a logical decision, not one based on "reputation."

"The biggest factor shift was student loan default rates... Harvard went down 32 spots on its default rate ranking and UPenn went up 72 spots," Phelan told USA Today College. "We look at what you are likely to pay and match that to the quality of the school to determine the best bang for your buck."

Here is College Factual's top 10. The full list can be seen here.

1.     University of Pennsylvania

Location: Philadelphia, Penn.

Acceptance rate: 9.9 percent

Full time professors: 96 percent

2.     Yale University

Location: New Haven, Conn.

Acceptance rate: 6.3 percent

Full time professors: 71 percent

3.     Duke University

Location: Durham, N.C.

Acceptance rate: 9.4 percent

Full time professors: 94 percent

4.     Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, Mass.

Acceptance rate: 5.9 percent

Full time professors: 83 percent

5.     Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Location: Cambridge, Mass.

Acceptance rate: 7.9 percent

Full time professors: 82 percent

6.     Brown University

Location: Providence, R.I.

Acceptance rate: 8.7 percent

Full time professors: 86 percent

7.     Stanford University

Location: Stanford, Calif.

Acceptance rate: 5.1 percent

Full time professors: 90 percent

8.     Princeton University

Location: Princeton, N.J.

Acceptance rate: 7.4 percent

Full time professors: 83 percent

9.     Dartmouth College

Location: Hanover, N.H.

Acceptance rate: 10.3 percent

Full time professors: 81 percent

10.  University of Notre Dame

Location: Notre Dame, Ind.

Acceptance rate: 21.2 percent

Full time professors: 89 percent

(Source: USA Today College)

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