It should be common knowledge by now that the US military academies routinely rank among the best colleges in the country by a variety of standards.  The academies routinely top the Princeton Review’s Best Value Colleges, and all the military academies were on it.  Of course, having a quality education with zero tuition does much for the value calculation.

The academies also top the 2011 Best Colleges pubished by the Princeton Review (see the 2010 list), which includes relative ranking criteria on a variety of “interesting” subjects.  The Air Force Academy again rises to the top on most conservative and most religious students.  The other academies were also consistently near the top on conservative, politically active, and “least happy” students, with slight variations.  (One unusual hit was at the Merchant Marine Academy, which took low marks on its professors.)  Other rankings: 

US Air Force Academy:
#13 Least Happy Students 
#17 Most Politically Active Students 
#1 Most Accessible Professors
#4 Most Conservative Students
#14 Most Religious Students

US Military Academy (West Point):
#14 Lots of Race/Class Interaction
#8 Most Politically Active Students 
#4 Most Accessible Professors
#16 Most Conservative Students

US Naval Academy (Annapolis):
#7 Least Happy Students 
#2 Most Accessible Professors
#18 Most Conservative Students

US Coast Guard Academy:
#3 Least Happy Students 
#11 Most Accessible Professors
#17 Most Conservative Students

US Merchant Marine Academy:
#1 Is It Food? 
#2 Least Happy Students 
#3 Professors Get Low Marks
#7 Least Accessible Professors
#5 Most Conservative Students

The full lists can be viewed at the Princeton site, though registration (free) is required.