By the editors of Kiplinger's Personal Finance October 25, 2013 New England residents seeking to attend college within a reasonable distance from home have plenty of smart options. Among our list of the top values in private colleges, 32 of them are in New England. Click on any school in the map or list below to get more details about its academic quality and affordability. Private Universities Yale University (New Haven, Conn.) Rank among all private universities: 1 Prominent alumni: George H.W. Bush, Anderson Cooper, Jodie Foster Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) Rank among all private universities: 4 Prominent alumni: Ben S. Bernanke, President Barack Obama, Mira Sorvino Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.) Rank among all private universities: 8 Prominent alumni: Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, Kofi Annan, Benjamin Netanyahu Brown University (Providence, R.I.) Rank among all private universities: 12 Prominent alumni: Mary Chapin Carpenter, John D. Rockefeller, Ted Turner Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.) Rank among all private universities: 13 Prominent alumni: Theodor Geisel, Mindy Kaling, Shonda Rhimes Tufts University (Medford, Mass.) Rank among all private universities: 20 Prominent alumni: Hank Azaria, Peter Gallagher, Pierre Omidyar Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) Rank among all private universities: 23 Prominent alumni: Doug Flutie, John F. Kerry, Amy Poehler Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, Mass.) Rank among all private universities: 27 Prominent alumni: Robert H. Goddard, Elwood Haynes, Nancy Pimental Brandeis University (Waltham, Mass.) Rank among all private universities: 28 Prominent alumni: Angela Davis, Jeffrey Lurie, Debra Messing Clark University (Worcester, Mass.) Rank among all private universities: 35 Prominent alumni: Matthew Goldman, Padma Lakshmi, Hugh Panero Bentley University (Waltham, Mass.) Rank among all private universities: 40 Prominent alumni: Joaquin E. Barcardi III, Dave Pietrycha Emerson College (Boston) Rank among all private universities: 45 Prominent alumni: Jay Leno, Seth Grahame-Smith, Henry Winkler Northeastern University (Boston) Rank among all private universities: 50 Prominent alumni: Gregory Jarvis, Wendy Williams Boston University (Boston) Rank among all private universities: 51 Prominent alumni: Barbara Jordan, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Julianne Moore Providence College (Providence, R.I.) Rank among all private universities: 60 Prominent alumni: Christopher Dodd, Patrick J. Kennedy Saint Michael’s College (Colchester, Vt.) Rank among all private universities: 68 Prominent alumni: Tom Bowman, Tom Freston, Hon. Patrick Leahy Simmons College (Boston) Rank among all private universities: 80 Prominent alumni: Ali Brown, Gwen Ifill, Allyson Schwartz Fairfield University (Fairfield, Conn.) Rank among all private universities: 97 Prominent alumni: Carmen Wong Ulrich See top values in liberal arts colleges in New England. Liberal Arts Colleges Williams College (Williamstown, Mass.) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 4 Prominent alumni: David Strathairn, Steve Case Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 5 Prominent alumni: Dan Brown, Charles Mann, Jeffrey Wright Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 6 Prominent alumni: Former U.S. President Franklin Pierce, Nathaniel Hawthorne Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vt.) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 7 Prominent alumni: Ronald H. Brown, Bill Delahunt, Ari Fleischer Wellesley College (Wellesley, Mass.) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 16 Prominent alumni: Hilary Rodham Clinton, Nora Ephron, Diane Sawyer Wesleyan University (Middleton, Conn.) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 17 Prominent alumni: Michael Bay, Robert Allbritton, Robert E. Hunter Colby College (Waterville, Maine) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 18 Prominent alumni: Dan Harris, Andrea Nix Fine, Cecily von Ziegesar College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Mass.) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 21 Prominent alumni: Erika Bearman, Chris Matthews, Hon. Clarence Thomas Bates College (Lewistown, Maine) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 31 Prominent alumni: Robert Goodlatte, Bryant Gumbel, Elizabeth Strout Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, Mass.) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 37 Prominent alumni: Elaine Chao, Emily Dickinson, Frances Perkins Smith College (North Hampton, Maine) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 40 Prominent alumni: Julia Child, Margaret Mitchell, Nancy Reagan Connecticut College (New London, Conn.) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 42 Prominent alumni: Tim Armstrong, Suzi Oppenheimer, Peter Som Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 48 Prominent alumni: Edward F. Albee, Mitchell M. Merin, Linda A. Wells College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, Maine) Rank among all liberal-arts colleges: 70 Prominent alumni: Amy Goodman, Chellie Pingree See top values in private universities in New England. Show comments