<p>Well, there’s not much to be surprised by here. Everyone knows the USNews rankings are a proxy for wealth and spending per student. Wesleyan is still the highest ranking LAC for research (according to the Washington Monthly), still within the top three co-ed LACs when it comes to the percentage of its students receiving Pell Grants (especially gratifying given Wesleyan’s decision to become need-sensitive last year), and probably the only small NESCAC college with not just one, but<em>two</em> internationally recognized academic programs, Ethnomusicology and Film.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it’s great that places like Davidson and Claremont McKenna are some well-deserved recognition; USNews is good at that sort of thing.</p>