U.S. Snooze: Wash. U. Remains Best University in Missouri, Still Number 12 Nationwide

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​Yesterday, just in time for the arrival of this year's freshman class at Washington University, U.S. News and World Report released its annual college rankings for 2010. Wash. U. came in at number 12, tying with Northwestern. (Just call 'em the Princeton and Yale of the Midwest, folks; let Number 8 University of Chicago, with its inspiring slogan "Where Fun Comes to Die", be the Harvard.)

The immediate impact of these results on school pride is unclear. Will the parents of the new frosh, cruising along Forest Park Parkway, their cars freshly adorned with spanking new Washington University window stickers suddenly be accosted by a paroxysm of shame? Will the freshmen step up their efforts to make sure their school wins the more-coveted Victoria's Secret Pink contest?

(Wash. U. currently ranks third, approximately 17,000 votes behind leader Rochester Institute of Technology. In between stands the United States Marine Corps University. However, the Wash. U. paper, Student Life, reports that a vigorous Facebook get-out-the-vote campaign is underway to bring Wash. U. Victoria's Secret lingerie to our fair city.)

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​In the U.S. News rankings, Saint Louis University came in at 88. Mizzou ranked 102 and "Arch-Rival" University of Illinois is number 37 in the general rankings, but ninth among public schools.

Other nearby universities did not fare quite as well:
Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla) -- 128
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale -- Tier 3
University of Missouri at St. Louis -- Tier 4

Nor did liberal arts colleges:
Illinois College (Jacksonville) -- Tier 3
Millikin University (Decatur, IL) -- Tier 3
Principia College (Elsah, IL) -- Tier 3
Westminster College (Fulton, MO) -- Tier 3
Stephens College (Columbia, MO) -- Tier 4

As for the Victoria's Secret Pink ratings, no other nearby school stands with Wash. U. in the top 25. Mizzou already has its own collection, though, which probably gives it bragging rights.