Harvard University tops this year's college rankings from U.S. News & World Report, switching places with Princeton University, which finished ahead of Harvard the previous two years but this time placed second.

The rankings, released today, show Yale University maintaining its third place standing among the 50 best national universities. Rounding out the top five schools this year are Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, which tied for fourth.

Among liberal arts campuses, Amherst College finished first followed by Williams and Swarthmore colleges. The highest ranked public university this year once again was the University of California at Berkeley, which finished 21st among the overall top 50 national universities, the same spot as last year.

The magazine's 2009 installment of "America's Best Colleges" is closely watched by the public, though its methodology has been criticized by some schools, including a small number of campuses vowing to boycott the yearly exercise.

In Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University maintained its 22nd spot among the 50 best national universities. In a survey of its peers, Carnegie Mellon's undergraduate business program ranked sixth best and its engineering program was ninth. In the specialties categories, Carnegie Mellon's computer engineering program was third.

The University of Pittsburgh did not make the Top 50 but moved into a two-way tie for 58th place with the University of Georgia, up from a three-way tie for 59th place last year. Among public universities, Pitt tied for 20th place overall with Georgia, and Pitt finished sixth among public universities in the Great Schools, Great Prices category.

Penn State University also nudged upward in the overall rankings, tying for 47th place in the best national universities with the University of Texas at Austin, up from 48th place last year. Among public universities, Penn State ranked 15th.