Chicago, Notre Dame, Michigan Lead

This year four Midwest schools made the top 20 ForbesOverall, the top colleges list, making a strong showing on the national list for the fourth year in a row.

Moving up two spots from last year to No. 16 on the national list, the University of Chicago takes the top spot in the Midwest. Known as a prestigious research institution with a rigorous core curriculum, the university has produced many important innovations, including the creation of the first sustained nuclear reaction. The University of Chicago tops the list not only for its cutting-edge research, but the school also provides financial education through its No Barriers policy, which ensures that students from all backgrounds can graduate debt-free.

A neighborhood university with its main campus located in suburban Chicago, Northwestern University trails well behind the University of Chicago as the No. 2 school in the Midwest and No. 17 in the nation. Northwestern University is an institution known for its research with over 50 research centers on campus, covering a wide variety of topics including neuroscience, nanotechnology, biotechnology and drug discovery. However, the school also has one of the most highly regarded journalism programs in the country—the Medill School of Journalism—which offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

One of only nine public schools to make the Midwest list and the nation's No. 2 public university, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor takes the No. 4 spot, trailing longtime football rival the University of Notre Dame ( No. 3 in the Midwest). The University of Michigan is known for its elite academic programs, such as the Ross School of Business and the Ford School of Public Policy. The schools are responsible for producing names like Google co-founder Larry Page and former United States President Gerald R. Ford. The University of Michigan also has the largest capacity college football stadium, known as The Big House, which seats more than 110,000.

Several liberal arts schools also appeared on the list, including Kenyon College and Oberlin College. Located in rural Ohio, Kenyon College is a small school dedicated to tradition. Every year, freshmen sign the Sign Book, a book filled with names like former US President Rutherford. B. Hayes, actor Paul Newman and novelist John Green. Oberlin College is also a school rooted in history, but with a progressive twist. As the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the country, Oberlin College was the first college in America to adopt a policy of admitting African-American students and the first school to grant degrees to women in a coeducational program.

25. Saint Louis University