Forbes ranks Duke 104 of American colleges

Forbes magazine ranked Duke 104 of America's top 600 colleges in its second year of rankings, released Wednesday.

The placement puts Duke between Wheaton College at 103 and Cornell College at 105. Neighboring University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was ranked 68.

Topping the list is the United States Military Academy, followed by Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology in second and third, respectively. Duke's placement this year dropped from 80th on Forbes' list last year.

The magazine based its ratings on a set of criteria, including student satisfaction with courses based on ratemyprofessor.com, alumni salaries, graduation rates, professors receiving awards and student debt load.

Traditionally ranked in the top 10 of American colleges, Duke has been at the top of college rankings for years but has recently seen fluctuations.  In its annual ratings, U.S. News & World Report placed Duke 8th in the nation for 2009 and 13th in the world in its first rankings of world colleges last November.