<p>It seems to compare apples and oranges. a LAC is a completely different animal from a RU–not to even to the issue of Service Academies. I wish Forbes would just demarcate their lists a bit better. Even if it the quality of undergraduate education, again, one persons small intimate environment is another persons inability to be in a world famous lab. Neither are better-- just different. UC is excellent for what it is. It will never be Williams or West Point, nor should it ever aspire to. (BTW to place Claremont-McKenna higher than Yale is just plain weird, I’m sorry–just weird.)</p>