The Wall Street Journal, in collaboration with Times Higher Education, recently released its inaugural ranking of U.S. colleges and universities, and a pair of Montgomery County institutions rated impressively.

Bryn Mawr College checked in at No. 47, while Ursinus College claimed the 174th spot.

The ranking includes clear performance indicators designed to answer the questions that matter the most to students and their families when making one of the most important decisions of their lives – who to trust with their education:

• Does the college have sufficient resources to teach me properly?
• Will I be engaged, and challenged, by my teacher and classmates?
• Does the college have a good academic reputation?
• What type of campus community is there?
• How likely am I to graduate, pay off my loans and get a good job?

The rankings adopted a balanced scorecard approach, with individual performance indicators combining to create an overall score that reflects the broad strength of the institution.

The overall methodology explored four key areas:

• Resources: Does the college have the capacity to effectively deliver teaching?
• Engagement: Does the college effectively engage with its students?
• Outcomes: Does the college generate good and appropriate outputs? Does it add value to the students who attend?
• Environment: Is the college providing a learning environment for all students? Does it make efforts to attract a diverse student body and faculty?

Gwynedd Mercy University ranked No. 492, while Arcadia University fell in the 501-600 range.

Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Penn, and Yale were the Top Five schools, respectively.

Click here to read more about The Wall Street Journal’s inaugural College Ranking.