Business Insider recently released its ranking of the 50 best law schools in America, which highlights the top institutions that prepare students to land highly coveted jobs in the legal world. 

But apart from job prospects, location can play an important role in deciding which school to attend, too. A number of the schools on our list are located in the Midwest — University of Chicago even claimed the No. 2 spot — so we whittled our list down to shine a light on the heart of the country.

Pulling from our overall law school ranking, we've compiled a list of the best schools in the Midwest, as defined by the US Census Bureau. Our methodology draws data from the American Bar Association and focuses on the percentage of graduates who land full-time, long-term, highly coveted jobs, which includes positions at big law firms that pay well — those with over 251 employees— and federal clerkships. Read more about our methodology here.

Continue on to see the 11 best school law schools in the Midwest.

Additional reporting by Kaitlyn Yarborough.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best law schools in America

DON'T MISS: The 50 best colleges in America

11. University of Kansas

Location: Lawrence, Kansas

Percent of graduates with highly coveted positions: 10%

Bar passage rate: 86%

Median LSAT score: 156

Law students at the University of Kansas can complete dual-degree programs in several areas, including business, journalism, and communications. Tuition for the public school is the third-lowest on our list at $35,328.

10. University of Nebraska

Location: Lincoln, Nebraska

Percent of graduates with highly coveted positions: 6%

Bar passage rate: 90%

Median LSAT score: 156

For students interested in subjects outside of law, the Nebraska College of Law offers eight joint degree programs where students can earn their master's in subjects such as journalism, business, and community planning. The school also boasts a high success rate for the bar exam, with 90% of graduates passing on the first try.

9. University of Notre Dame

Location: South Bend, Indiana

Percent of graduates with highly coveted positions: 33%

Bar passage rate: 84%

Median LSAT score: 164

The University of Notre Dame law school encourages students to extend their education outside of the US and offers several opportunities to study abroad, including stays at Notre Dame's programs in London, Chile, or Italy. Grads join the ranks of successful alumni, such as Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano.

Business Insider recently released its ranking of the 50 best law schools in America, which highlights the top institutions that prepare students to land highly coveted jobs in the legal world.

Our methodology draws data from the American Bar Association and focuses on the percentage of graduates who land full-time, long-term, highly coveted jobs, which includes positions at big law firms that pay well — those with over 251 employees— and federal clerkships. Read more about our methodology here.

Private law schools, which hold significant clout in the legal profession, comprised half of our list — including nine of the top 10 spots. Here, we highlight the top 25 private law schools from our list.

Additional reporting by Kaitlyn Yarborough and Alexa Pipia.

DON'T MISS THE FULL LIST: The 50 best law schools in America

25. Seton Hall University

Location: Newark, New Jersey

Percent of graduates with highly coveted positions: 7%

Bar passage rate: 83%

Median LSAT score: 157

The only private law school in New Jersey, Seton Hall offers instruction in the areas of health, intellectual property, public interest and public policy, and social justice. About 80% of graduates secured full-time, long-term jobs requiring bar-exam passage.

24. Fordham University

23. Wake Forest University

Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Percent of graduates with highly coveted positions: 10%

Bar passage rate: 82%

Median LSAT score: 161

The law school at Wake Forest University offers students legal instruction in business, criminal justice, and health and policy. A solid 66% of graduates from the class of 2015 secured full-time, long-term jobs requiring bar passage.

Fast food took root in the US the 1950s and has flourished into a $255 billion industry. These restaurants — globally associated with American culture — evoke surprising passion, with many developing a cult-like loyalty from customers. But which chain is the best?

Business Insider teamed up with Restaurant Business, a food-service industry expert and media outlet, to compile a definitive ranking of the best fast-food restaurants in America. Using proprietary data collected by Restaurant Business and its sister research firm Technomic, we looked at nearly 100 of the largest US chains and rated them on three criteria that we considered the most telling for all-around fast-food excellence: financial performance, customer satisfaction, and overall value. Our calculations accounted for sales growth, average sales at each location, consumer-sentiment ratings, and the average cost of a meal, among other metrics. Read more about the methodology here.

Towering sales figures alone weren't enough to make the cut, as a number of fast-food heavyweights — such as McDonald's and Taco Bell — didn't crack the top 25 in our ranking. Rather, customers tend to gravitate toward more specialized and regional brands that offer a higher-quality experience, including fresh, sustainable ingredients, at an affordable price, according to Restaurant Business.

Keep reading to see the 25 best fast-food chains in America in 2016.

DON'T MISS: I've tried nearly every burger on the market — here's who does it best

AND: 15 of the healthiest fast-food menu items

25. Qdoba Mexican Eats

Headquarters: Lakewood, Colorado

US sales: $745 million

Number of US locations: 670

Financial performance rank: 18

Customer satisfaction rank: 40

Value rank: 73

Qdoba grew sales by 9% in 2015, but it can’t seem to shake constant comparisons to Chipotle, which had nearly the same rate of growth last year. The origins of the burrito behemoths are actually quite similar: Qdoba was founded in 1995 in Colorado, two years after and four miles north of the first location of its now faltering competitor. 

But in an effort to distinguish itself, Qdoba announced last October that it would redesign locations and ramp up its menu — which offers tacos, salads, burritos, and quesadillas — based on a new version of its ideal customer, a woman named Quentessa, who’s “naturally magnetic” and leads “a story-filled life.”

24. Ben & Jerry's

Headquarters: South Burlington, Vermont

US sales: $78 million

Number of US locations: 235

Financial performance rank: 89

Customer satisfaction rank: 4

Value rank: 1

After taking a $5 ice-cream-making course at Penn State, best friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield purchased an old gas station and turned it into a scoop shop. Ben & Jerry’s is now known for inventive ice-cream flavors like Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, and Americone Dream.

Almost 40 years in the business, the ice-cream veterans keep finding new ways to bring its most loved products to customers. In May 2016, the company announced it would start “flipping” three of its classic flavors. For instance, the flavor Half Baked has been changed to Totally Baked — instead of brownies in chocolate ice cream and cookie dough in vanilla, the ice-cream-and-baked-good combos will be swapped.

23. Fuddruckers

Headquarters: Houston, Texas

US sales: $253 million

Number of US locations:173

Financial performance rank: 77

Customer satisfaction rank: 8

Value rank: 25

Since its inception, Fuddruckers has aimed to create the “World’s Greatest Hamburgers.” It prides itself on its never-frozen patties, baked-from-scratch buns, and DIY topping bar, ensuring customers get exactly what they want.

Despite slipping US sales — down 1.2% last year — Fuddruckers has accrued a host of loyal customers who flock to the chain for its juicy hamburgers and crisp sesame buns, earning the restaurant a top-notch customer satisfaction rating on Technomic.

Moving to a new city for the first time can be nerve-wracking. This is especially the case for millennials, who are living at home longer than any other generation. Whether for a new job or simply a change of pace, there's a lot of factors Generation Y might want to consider before leaving their parents' house. 

Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on cities, recently released its ranking of the best cities for millennials in America. 

Niche assessed more than 220 cities with a population of more than 100,000, focusing on 11 factors to determine which cities in the US were best-suited for young professionals. Some of those factors include access to bars and restaurants, percentage of residents age 25-34, cost of living, and unemployment rate. You can read a more about the methodology here.

A city in Massachusetts takes the top spot, while California is the state with the most cities on the list.

Keep reading to find out the 25 best cities for millennials in America. 

SEE ALSO: 25 best places to live if you love outdoors

DON'T MISS: The best suburb in every state

25. Tempe, Arizona

Population:166,975

Residents 25-34 years old:19.3%

Access to bars: A

Access to restaurants: A-

Cost of living grade: C-

Unemployment rate: 6.1%

24. Plano, Texas

Population:271,166

Residents 25-34 years old:13.4%

Access to bars: B+

Access to restaurants: A-

Cost of living grade: C+

Unemployment rate: 4.2%

23. Round Rock, Texas

Population:106,972

Residents 25-34 years old:15.5%

Access to bars: A-

Access to restaurants: B+

Cost of living grade: C+

Unemployment rate: 5.3%

Business Insider recently released its ranking of the 50 best law schools in America, which highlights the top institutions that prepare students to land highly coveted jobs in the legal world.

Our methodology draws data from the American Bar Association and focuses on the percentage of graduates who land full-time, long-term, highly coveted jobs, which includes positions at big law firms that pay well — those with over 251 employees— and federal clerkships. Read more about our methodology here.

While private law schools often get overarching recognition for superior academics, many competitive public law schools boast similar track records in placing students in highly coveted jobs.

These law schools deliver a first-rate legal education, often at a more affordable cost. The annual tuition for public schools on our list is $11,357 less on average than private schools — $43, 041 compared with $54,398.

Here, we highlight the top 25 public law schools from our ranking.

Additional reporting by Alexa Pipia.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best business schools in the world

DON'T MISS: The 50 best colleges in America

25. Louisiana State University

Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Percent of graduates with highly coveted positions: 6%

Bar passage rate: 84%

Median LSAT score: 155

In addition to a traditional law degree in common law, Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Herbert Law Center also gives students the option to earn an additional degree in civil law, which the school describes as a “blend of Roman, Spanish, and French legal traditions.” After graduation, 70% of LSU law students secure full-time, long-term jobs that require passing the bar.

24. University of Kansas

Location: Lawrence, Kansas

Percent of graduates with highly coveted positions: 10%

Bar passage rate: 86%

Median LSAT score: 156

Law students at the University of Kansas can complete dual-degree programs in several areas, including business, journalism, and communications. Tuition for the public school is the third-lowest on our list at $35,328.

23. University of Washington

Location: Seattle, Washington

Percent of graduates with highly coveted positions: 16%

Bar passage rate: 84%

Median LSAT score: 164

The University of Washington’s law library is among the largest on the West Coast with more than 650,000 volumes aiding the school’s nationally recognized Law Librarianship program. Nearly 70% of graduates of the public school secured jobs that required passing the bar. 

Business Insider recently released its list of the 50 best law schools in the country, which focused on the institutions that lead to top jobs in the legal world.

The ranking primarily homed in on the percentage of graduates who land full-time, long-term, highly coveted jobs, which we narrowed down to two things: positions at big law firms and federal clerkships.

While not the highest-paying positions, federal clerkships allow young lawyers to make connections and can set them up for career success.  

"Clerkships offer an opportunity to work closely with a judge, learn about the inner workings of the judicial system, and hone your legal research and writing skills," Stanford Law School — which sees 26% of graduates accept federal clerkships — explains on its website. "They also provide one or two years of practical training and enable you to make valuable professional contacts in the substantive and/or geographical areas in which you hope to practice."

We culled data from the American Bar Association to find the schools that funnel the highest percentage of graduates into these positions, using overall rank on our main list as a tiebreaker. Read on to see which law schools send the most graduates to federal clerkships. 

Additional reporting by Kaitlyn Yarborough and Alexa Pipia.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best law schools in America

DON'T MISS: The 50 best business schools in the world

24. University of Mississippi

Location: Oxford, Mississippi

Percent of graduates securing federal clerkships: 6%

Bar passage rate: 85%

Median LSAT score: 155

Tuition at the University of Mississippi’s school of law costs only $15,036 for in-state residents, climbing up to $32,374 for non-residents. The school includes author John Grisham and Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker among its notable alumni.

23. The College of William and Mary

Location: Williamsburg, Virginia

Percent of graduates securing federal clerkships: 6%

Bar passage rate: 88%

Median LSAT score: 163

Founded in 1779, William & Mary Law School stands as the oldest law school in the US — and it’s still going strong. Fifteen percent of the class of 2015 secured jobs at big law firms with over 500 employees, and 88% passed the bar the first time around.

22. University of Georgia

Location: Athens, Georgia

Percent of graduates securing federal clerkships: 6%

Bar passage rate: 91%

Median LSAT score: 162

University of Georgia Law has excelled in international-law instruction for decades. Dean Rusk, the US secretary of state during the Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson presidential administrations, served as a professor for more than a decade and is the namesake of the school's international law center. The law school has one of the lowest annual tuition costs on our list at $37,524. 

First and foremost, college is about getting an education. But it's also about having fun, going out, and making new friends.

Business Insider created a list of schools that best embody this dual principle — the "work hard, play hard" mentality that many students look for.

To find the most intense colleges in the country, we combined four rankings from college information site Niche: colleges with the best academics, smartest students, best Greek life colleges, and top party schools. We eliminated any schools that ranked only for academics or only for social life.

The list runs the gamut from big state schools, such as the University of Texas and the University of Michigan, to Ivies like Dartmouth and Yale.

Take a look at the most intense colleges in America, where students go all out, whether they're studying or partying.

Additional reporting by Andy Kiersz.

SEE ALSO: The best college in every state

DON'T MISS: The 50 best colleges in America

30. Wake Forest University

Location: Winston Salem, North Carolina

Academics: A+

Party Scene: A

"Academics at Wake are impeccable," one student said. "You will get a great education, albeit with a large workload. The workload is manageable, and if you want to actually learn something in college, go here."

Greek life takes over campus on the weekends.

"Greek life dominates the party scene, so usually there is either a frat lounge party or off-campus house party every Friday and Saturday night," one freshman noted.

29. University of Florida

Location: Gainesville, Florida

Academics: A

Party Scene: A+

"A lot of people party — almost every day of the week there's going to be people at the club," one senior said.

There's still plenty of time to study, however.

"I have never been challenged as much in my academics than I have at UF, but being challenged like this is only going to help me in life after college," a junior noted.

28. Tulane University

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Academics: A+

Party Scene: A+

"Tulane seamlessly combines social life and academic rigor to provide a great college experience and ensure success after graduation," one sophomore commented.

Other students agree — Tulane students study as hard as they party.

"Most students follow the 'work hard, play hard' model religiously," one freshman reported. "Most students study all day and go out after. People do go out a decent amount during the week, as many of the bars have deals during weeknights." 

We recently released a list of the American cities with the best quality of life based on a compilation of several rankings from Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on cities and schools.

In order to determine the lists that were included in our ranking, we checked out Niche's 2016 Places to Live rankings under the "cities" category — which assessed more than 220 places with a population exceeding 100,000 people — for rankings that evoke a high quality of life, like the best cities for safety, outdoor activities, job prospects, and education.

Once we identified our eight lists, we inverted them in order to award a larger amount of points to the cities ranked higher. For example, 100 points went to the No. 1 city on a list, 99 points to the No. 2, 98 to the No. 3, and so on through No. 100, which received a single point.

We then added up all the points we designated to each city to determine an overall ranking. Every city in the top 25 appeared in six or more Niche city lists.

Our highest ranked city — Bellevue, Washington — received 580 overall points. Our lowest ranked city in the top 25 — Denton, Texas — received 383 points.

Here are the Niche rankings we compiled for our list:

• Safest Cities
• Most Diverse Cities
• Healthiest Cities
• Cities with the Best Public Schools
• Cities with the Best Job Opportunities*
• Best Cities to Buy a House
• Best Cities to Raise a Family
• Best Cities for Outdoor Activities

*It's worth noting that the list of cities with the best job opportunities incorporates US Census data from a few years ago. As such, the list is heavy on cities that enjoyed the benefits of the shale oil boom, like Midland and Odessa, TX. As oil prices have fallen and the energy industry has hit somewhat harder times in the last year or so, those cities may have somewhat harder employment prospects than they did at the time this data was collected.

Join the conversation about this story »

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If you regularly remark about how happy, safe, and satisfied you feel in your personal and professional lives, you most likely have a pretty high quality of life.

The city you live in may have a lot to do with that, thanks to factors like job opportunities, a good housing market, access to quality public schools, and proximity to outdoor activities.

To determine which US cities offer the best quality of life, we turned to the latest Places to Live rankings from Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on cities.

We looked at eight separate rankings in the best cities category — which assessed more than 220 places with a population of at least 100,000 people — including "Safest Cities,""Cities with the Best Job Opportunities,""Healthiest Cities," and "Best Cities to Raise a Family." We then combined these rankings to determine which cities have the best overall quality of life. You can read the full methodology here.

The final list of the top 25 cities reveals that midsize cities (with populations of under 500,000) offer the best quality of life. The state with the most cities in the top 25 is Texas, with seven, followed by California, which had five.

Read on to check out the 25 cities with the best quality of life.

DON'T MISS: 25 beautiful US cities to live in if you love spending time outdoors

SEE ALSO: The 25 healthiest cities in America

25. Denton, Texas

Population: 122,742

Median home value: $149,200

Cost of living: C+

Crime & safety: B-

Jobs: A

24. The Woodlands, Texas

Population: 102,911

Median home value: $296,700

Cost of living: C

Crime & safety: N/A

Jobs: A+

23. Lincoln, Nebraska

Population: 265,811

Median home value: $144,900

Cost of living: B-

Crime & safety: B-

Jobs: B+

Law school isn't just a chance to train for a career in justice. Depending on where you go, it's also an opportunity to live and study alongside some of the most intelligent and motivated students in the country. 

In conjunction with our recent ranking of the 50 best law schools in America, Business Insider compiled a list of the smartest law schools in the country, based on median LSAT scores. 

Using data from the American Bar Association, we found the institutions where students earn a median 164 — out of a perfect 180 — on the LSAT.

Harvard and Yale tied for the top spot with median scores of 173, followed closely by Columbia and Stanford at 171. Continue on to check out the full list of the smartest schools.

Additional reporting by Kaitlyn Yarborough and Alexa Pipia.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best law schools in America

DON'T MISS: The 50 best business schools in the world

University of Washington

Location: Seattle, Washington

Median LSAT score: 164

Bar passage rate: 84%

The University of Washington's law library is among the largest on the West Coast with more than 650,000 volumes aiding the school's nationally recognized Law Librarianship program. Nearly 70% of graduates of the public school secured jobs that required passing the bar.

University of Minnesota

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Median LSAT score: 164

Bar passage rate: 85%

The University of Minnesota Law School's library holds one of the largest collections in the nation, with over 1 million volumes. The curriculum promotes experiential learning and offers 24 diverse clinical programs that more than 50% of students use to gain real-world experience with clients.

University of Notre Dame

Location: South Bend, Indiana

Median LSAT score: 164

Bar passage rate: 84%

The University of Notre Dame law school encourages students to extend their education outside of the US and offers several opportunities to study abroad, including stays at Notre Dame's programs in London, Chile, or Italy. Grads join the ranks of successful alumni, such as Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano.

University endowments support a school's operating budget and help it invest in its future, from providing scholarships and financial aid to funding research and other initiatives. The richest colleges, frequently the most prestigious, can offer more of these opportunities to their students and community, giving them a leg up in recruitment and helping them burnish their academic reputation.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a US government organization that collects and analyzes education data, provided Business Insider with the most recent figures on US college endowments (the fiscal year ending in October 2014). It also provided its most recent data on the annual cost for a student to attend each college while living on campus. 

Harvard University isn't just one of the top schools in the country academically, it also has the largest endowment of any American college with $36 billion — that's $13 billion more than the second-richest school, Yale University.

The following 30 colleges all have endowments of more than $2.9 billion, making them the richest in America.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best colleges in America

DON'T MISS: The 50 best business schools in the world

30. University of Washington

Location: Seattle, Washington

Endowment: $2.92 billion

Tuition: $26,698 (in-state); $47,817 (out-of-state)

Founded in 1861, UW is made up of three campuses: Seattle, Tacoma, and Bothell — Seattle is the university’s main campus and boasts the largest endowment. UW's alumni include 136 Fulbright Scholars, 35 Rhodes Scholars, seven Marshall Scholars, and four Gates Cambridge Scholars. Preserving the environment is a priority for the school — it launched the UW Sustainability program in 2008 to promote projects that promote resource conservation and behavior change.

29. University of Minnesota at Twin Cities

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Endowment: $2.99 billion

Tuition: $25,674 (in-state); $32,924 (out-of-state)

The more than 30,000 students who attend the University of Minnesota at Twin Cities learn from accomplished professors who have won Nobel Prizes, Pulitzer Prizes, and MacArthur Fellowships, among other awards. UMN graduates go on to impressive feats as well: Alumni have started over 10,000 companies, generating a combined $100 billion in revenue.

28. Brown University

Location: Providence, Rhode Island

Endowment: $3 billion

Tuition: $62,694

Brown is a leading research university with a 9% acceptance rate, though it has the lowest endowment of the eight Ivy League schools. The college offers a wide variety of undergraduate study in more than 40 academic departments as well as 51 doctoral programs and 28 master’s programs. Former Apple and Pepsi CEO John Sculley, actress Emma Watson, and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen are among Brown's most successful alumni.

In honor of International Beer Day on August 5, the beer-rating and -review site RateBeer.com has curated a list of the top beers in the world.

The 20 beers were selected from the RateBeer Best 2016, the site's annual awards show and world beer festival, and from a list of likely candidates for RateBeer Best 2017.

From a barrel-aged brew made with raspberries to a strong Russian imperial stout served just one day each year, keep scrolling to find out which beers made the cut.

SEE ALSO: The best beer from every state

AND: 7 of the biggest myths about beer debunked

20. Stigbergets Gbg Beer Week 2016 (Stigbergets Bryggeri)

This IPA from Stigbergets Bryggeri out of Göteborg, Sweden, is fruity and fresh with citrus aromas and juicy hops to taste, with a balanced bitter finish.

19. Thicket (Side Project)

Thicket is Side Project's blended Missouri Wild Ale made of amber and blond wild beers aged on blackberries grown in Oregon and Missouri. The sour ale is intensely fruity and dark purple in color.

18. Prairie Bomb! - Barrel Aged (Prairie Artisan Ales)

Oklahoma-based Prairie Artisan Ales' imperial stout is aged in whiskey barrels with chocolate, vanilla beans, cocoa nibs, and chili peppers, creating a unique balance between sweet and spicy.

Jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math are booming in the US — and average salaries for STEM jobs are nearly twice the national average.

It's no surprise, then, that high schools across the country are ramping up their emphasis on teaching STEM skills.

U.S. News & World Report recently released its list of the best high schools in America, gathering data on more than 21,000 public schools across the country. It also separately highlighted the best STEM high schools.

The overall ranking measures high schools by graduation rates, college readiness, and how well students at each school performed statistically compared to others in their state. The college readiness score — out of a possible 100 — measures which schools produce the best college-level achievement for the highest percentages of students, using AP and IB scores as benchmarks. You can read the full breakdown of the methodology here.

The U.S. News STEM index, which awards a score out of 100 to the top 500 high schools in the country, is determined by the percentage of students who took and passed Advanced Placement tests in STEM subjects.

Read on for the 25 best high schools in the country for learning science, technology, engineering, and math:

SEE ALSO: 50 smartest public schools in America

DON'T MISS: 50 smartest private schools in America

No. 25. Pine View School

Location: Osprey, Florida

Enrollment: 2,180

STEM index: 85.9

College readiness: 100

Graduation rate: 100%

No. 24. Solon High School

Location:Solon, Ohio

Enrollment: 1,705

STEM index: 86

College readiness: 60.9

Graduation rate: 98%

No. 23. Darien High School

Location: Darien, Connecticut

Enrollment: 1,354

STEM index: 86.3

College readiness: 56.3

Graduation rate: 98%

The wealthiest private colleges in America eclipse many corporate giants as financial powerhouses. The endowment for Yale University, for instance, is worth nearly twice as much Macy's or MGM Resorts. Harvard University — the richest college in the country and $13 billion wealthier than Yale — could buy Prudential, General Mills, or Nokia with its $36 billion endowment. 

Schools like Yale and Harvard use their endowments to support their operating budget and invest for future opportunities, from providing scholarships and financial aid to funding research and other initiatives. The richest colleges, frequently the most prestigious, can offer more of these opportunities to their students and community, giving them a leg up in recruitment and helping them burnish their academic reputation.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), an organization under the US government that collects and analyzes education data, provided Business Insider with the most recent figures on US college endowments (the fiscal year ending in October 2014). It also provided its most recent data on the annual cost for a student to attend each college while living on campus. 

Business Insider rounded up the 30 richest colleges overall, and below we've highlighted the 20 wealthiest private colleges — which all boast endowments of more than $3 billion.

Additional reporting by Alex Morrell.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best colleges in America

DON'T MISS: The 30 richest colleges in America

20. Johns Hopkins University

Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Endowment: $3.39 billion

Total cost:$63,529

With nine schools and more than 240 programs— including top-ranked biomedical and environmental engineering programs— Johns Hopkins offers undergraduates endless areas of study, from biophysics to music composition. Johns Hopkins Hospital, the teaching hospital and medical center affiliated with JHU’s school of medicine, is regarded as one the best in the country.

19. New York University

Location: New York, New York

Endowment: $3.44 billion

Total cost: $66,022

The largest private research university in the US, NYU has over 40,000 students not only in New York but in cities all over the world, including Abu Dhabi and Shanghai. Its renowned Tisch School of the Arts has churned out notable alumni such as Martin Scorsese and Alec Baldwin. The university's Stern School of Business is one of the 20 best business schools in the world.

18. Vanderbilt University

Location: Nashville, Tennessee

Endowment: $4.05 billion

Total cost: $62,320

Vanderbilt prides itself on being ranked No. 1 on the list of schools with the happiest students by Princeton Review. With over 200 music venues surrounding the school’s campus, Music City provides the university's students with a lush playground for exploration. The options don’t stop there, about 40% of Vanderbilt’s students choose to study abroad with one of the university’s more than 120 programs available in 36 countries on six continents.

There are nearly 100,000 elementary, middle, and high schools in the US, which combine to form an array of school districts of varying size and quality. The best districts are coveted, and a high-caliber school system can be a key factor when a family decides to relocate to one city over another. 

Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on schools, provides a ranking of the best school districts in America— that is, the collective quality of all the schools in a district determined by a grade of overall experience. The ranking includes key factors such as the strength of academics, health and safety, student culture and diversity, and the quality of teachers. Read more about the methodology here.

At the time of calculation, Niche's database contained records for 12,153 school districts. Business Insider searched the ranking to find the best in each state. Sufficient data wasn't available for Hawaii, so it does not appear on this list.

Below is the best school district in each US state.

SEE ALSO: The 25 best school districts in America

AND: The best public high school in every state

ALABAMA: Mountain Brook City Schools

No. of schools: 6

No. of students: 4,477

Academics: A+

Health & safety: A

Student culture & diversity: C-

Teachers: A+

ALASKA: Unalaska City School District

No. of schools: 2

No. of students: 408

Academics: A

Health & safety: A+

Student culture & diversity: A

Teachers: A+

ARIZONA: Chandler Preparatory Academy

No. of schools: 1

No. of students: 679

Academics: A+

Health & safety: A-

Student culture & diversity: A

Teachers: A+

Moviegoing has long been one of America's favorite pastimes, with blockbuster box-office earnings serving as a reliable predictor of cultural staying power.

Using both IMDb's and Box Office Mojo's lists of the highest-grossing films by year, Business Insider has compiled a chronology of the biggest box-office hits every year since 1975.

We adjusted global box-office receipts for inflation through 2016 using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator. We've also included critic ratings from Metacritic (on a scale of one to 100) and fan ratings from IMDb (on a scale of 1 to 10) for each film.

Several franchises are represented — "Star Wars,""Harry Potter," and "Pirates of the Caribbean" each make multiple appearances — as are Academy Award nominees and winners such as "Titanic" and "Rocky."

We used '75 as the cutoff because we found that worldwide figures before then were spotty and inconsistent.

Read on to find out the highest-grossing movie released the year you were born:

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AND: RANKED: The 10 movies most likely to dominate this summer

2015: "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens"

Adjusted gross: $2.07 billion

Unadjusted gross: $2.07 billion

Critic rating: 81

Fan rating: 8.3

Plot summary: "Three decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, a new threat arises. The First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a ragtag group of heroes can stop them, along with the help of the Resistance." 

2014: "Transformers: Age of Extinction"

Adjusted gross: $1.12 billion

Unadjusted gross: $1.1 billion

Critic rating: 32

Fan rating: 5.7

Plot summary: "Autobots must escape sight from a bounty hunter who has taken control of the human serendipity: Unexpectedly, Optimus Prime and his remaining gang turn to a mechanic, his daughter, and her back street racing boyfriend for help."

2013: "Frozen"

Adjusted gross: $1.31 billion

Unadjusted gross: $1.28 billion

Critic rating: 74

Fan rating: 7.6

Plot summary: "When the newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister, Anna, teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition."

Great public schools abound in the US, but for some students the less traditional and often-times smaller educational experience offered by charter schools is a better fit.

Charter schools still operate within public school districts, but typically they don't have to follow all of the regulations other schools do, leaving them open to alternative teaching methods and different programs. These schools usually have limited enrollment and may accept students through an application process or lottery system. 

U.S. News & World Report recently released its list of the best high schools in America, gathering data on more than 21,000 public schools across the country. They also separately highlighted the country's top charter schools. 

The ranking looked at graduation rates, college readiness, and how well students at each school performed statistically compared to others in their state. The college readiness score (out of a possible 100) measures which schools produce the best college-level achievement for the highest percentages of students, using AP and IB scores as benchmarks. You can read the full breakdown of the methodology here. 

For parents and students interested in the charter school experience, here are the top-25 schools to consider in the US — each of which also ranks in the U.S. News' top-100 high schools overall. 

SEE ALSO: The 50 smartest private high schools in the US

DON'T MISS: The best public high school in every state

25. Treknorth High School

Location:Bemidji, Minnesota

Enrollment: 169

College readiness: 86.4

Graduation rate: 76%

24. Early College High School

Location:Laredo, Texas

Enrollment: 416

College readiness: 86.6

Graduation rate: 100%

23. Charter School of Wilmington

Location:Wilmington, Delaware

Enrollment: 970

College readiness: 87.1

Graduation rate: 100%

What makes a college great? In Business Insider's latest ranking of the best colleges in America, the top schools share a few common traits: They provide a quality education and graduate students on time, they set graduates up to earn well-paying jobs early in their career, and they provide a memorable and enjoyable campus experience that instills pride and loyalty for decades to come.

Business Insider's 2016 ranking uses a formula that relies very little on glamour statistics, like reputation and selectivity, that are featured in many college rankings. Instead, we primarily leaned on data available from the government, weighting early-career earnings and graduation rate the highest.

College years are formative for young adults, so we also gave significant credit to schools that provide a top-notch student-life experience, as measured by Niche, a company that compiles research on schools. Niche assessed the social and community life of universities and provided letter grades based on metrics like campus quality, diversity, party scene, student retention, safety, and athletics.

Other factors that counted for less and rounded out each school's score: full-time retention rate, average annual cost (after accounting for scholarships and financial aid), average SAT score of incoming students, and admittance rate. Read more about our methodology. 

The Ivy League dominated the list, taking the top three spots. But our top 10 featured a couple of surprises, too, including two top-notch universities from the South. Read on to see the full list of the best colleges in the US.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best law schools in America

DON'T MISS: The 24 smartest law schools in the US

50. Babson College

Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts

Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $85,500

Average SAT score: 1258

Student life score: B+

A leader in entrepreneurial education, Babson College equips students with the skills to innovate, experiment, and lead in the business world and beyond. The private college has produced numerous successful entrepreneurs in its nearly 100-year history, including Arthur Blank, the cofounder and former president of Home Depot who is the eponym of the college's on-campus entrepreneurship hub.

49. Hamilton College

Location: Clinton, New York

Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $57,300

Average SAT score: 1384

Student life score: A

Hamilton College takes its name from founding father Alexander Hamilton, who served as one of the school's original trustees in 1793 when he was the US secretary of the Treasury. More than 200 years later, Hamilton is still going strong: One year after graduation, at least 91% of the class of 2014 had secured a full-time job or internship or were enrolled in graduate school. For those who entered the workforce, employers included companies such as General Electric, Amazon, and The New York Times.

48. George Washington University

Location: Washington, D.C.

Median salary 10 years after enrolling:$64,500

Average SAT score: 1297

Student life score: A

Located right in the US capital, George Washington University offers more than 2,000 undergraduate courses and more than 70 majors. More than 1,400 students choose to study abroad each year at GW's study centers and partner institutions in more than 40 countries. The school also has some distinguished alumni— former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and actress Kerry Washington all attended the university.

Business Insider just released its 2016 ranking of the best colleges in America. This year, we adopted a new methodology that put less weight glamour statistics, like reputation and selectivity, and more emphasis on hard measures that demonstrate a school's efficacy. Here's how we put together the ranking. 

We started with the Department of Education, gathering hundreds of the most recent data points reported by several thousand colleges from across the country. We keyed on the following metrics, with points awarded for each: 

• 2 points — Median earnings of students working and not enrolled 10 years after entry
• 2 points— Median earnings of students working and not enrolled 6 years after entry
• 3 points— Graduation rate within four years
• 1 point— Full-time retention rate in 2014 
• 0.5 point— Average annual net cost (According to the Department of Education, this includes "tuition and fees, books and supplies, and living expenses, minus the average grant/scholarship aid" and is calculated for full-time, first-time undergrads who received aid.)
• 0.5 point— Percent admitted
• 0.5 point— Average SAT score

College years are formative for young adults, so we also gave significant credit to schools that provide a top-notch student life experience, as measured by Niche, a company that compiles research on schools. Niche assessed the social and community life of universities and provided letter grades based on metrics like campus quality, diversity, party scene, student retention, safety, and athletics. We gave 2 points for a schools student life score. 

Each metric was normalized by fitting values on a scale from 0 to 1 and then multiplied by the points above. With these metrics ranked we sifted a group of several thousand schools down to only the 50 best. 

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Business Insider recently released its annual list of the best colleges in America, emphasizing schools with high graduation rates and early-career earnings, rather than focusing solely on glamour statistics, like reputation and selectivity.

But that's not to say that the caliber of the students doesn't play an important role in what makes a school great. So we expanded our ranking to the top-100 schools in the country and filtered our data to find which colleges boast students with the highest average SAT scores. For schools that traditionally accept the ACT, those scores have been translated to the equivalent SAT score. 

With an average score of 1534, CalTech topped the list, jumping 40 spots from its ranking on the main list. University of Chicago and MIT followed, moving up 21 and 3 spots, respectively, from their positions on the original ranking. Read on to see the full list of the schools with the highest SAT scores in the US. 

SEE ALSO: The 50 best colleges in America

DON'T MISS: The 24 smartest law schools in the US

22. Tufts University

Location: Medford, Massachusetts

Average SAT score: 1428

Tufts University is made up of three undergraduate schools: the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts. Students have the option to choose from about 150 majors and minors and participate in one or more of Tuft's 341 student organizations. In the Experimental College, students go beyond the typical classroom environment, taking courses such as "Circus and Society" or "American Witches."

21. Brown University

Location: Providence, Rhode Island

Average SAT score: 1425

Brown students have the freedom to personalize their liberal-arts course study, a practice the school calls "open curriculum." Brown was founded in 1764 on the then-unprecedented idea of accepting students regardless of religion. It was also the first Ivy League school to establish an undergraduate engineering program in 1847.

20. Carnegie Mellon University

Location: Pittsburgh 

Average SAT score: 1432

Located in the heart of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University carries on the traditions of Scottish founder and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Besides academic excellence, that also includes Pipes and Drums, a bagpipe-only band, and Kiltie Band, a quirky marching band that dons kilts for every performance. The school is also known for its top-notch engineering program, and offers majors in everything from chemical engineering to engineering and public policy.