More than a dozen ShowMe State colleges and universities are listed among the nation’s top 650 institutions of higher learning by Forbes Magazine.

The magazine says its list reflects the quality of the school’s teaching, career prospects, graduation rates and low levels of debt, which measures student debt loads and default rates. The number of alumni who go on to win prestigious scholarships and fellowships, such as Marshall and Fulbright and Rhodes, is also factored into the equation.

Washington University in St. Louis was ranked highest among Missouri colleges and universities at 113. The flagship campus of the University of Missouri system - University of Missouri at Columbia - came in 386, while the University of Missouri-Kansas City ranked at 603, Missouri State at 605 and the University of Missouri – St. Louis at 629.

Forbes ranks Williams College, a private school in western Massachusetts number one. Annual costs at Williams College runs to $55,000, yet the magazine notes the school has one of the highest four-year graduation rates and its students routinely win national awards and are rewarded with high paying careers.

Missouri institutions in the Forbes ranking include:

• Washington University in St. Louis (#113)
• College of the Ozarks, Pt. Lookout (#191)
• William Jewell, Liberty (#233)
• Westminster College, Fulton (#248)
• Rockhurst University, Kansas City (#250)
• St. Louis University, St. Louis (#326)
• University of Missouri – Columbia (#386)
• Truman State University, Kirksville (#431)
• Maryville University, St. Louis (#484)
• Webster University, St. Louis (#486)
• Drury University, Springfield (#573)
• University of Missouri - Kansas City (#603)
• Missouri State University, Springfield (#605)
• University of Missouri - St. Louis (#629)