Best Liberal Arts Colleges: U.S. News & World Report 2014 Ranking

A new ranking says the best liberal arts colleges are concentrated in the Northeast, still.

U.S. News & World Report 's 2014 ranking for the best national liberal arts colleges , released Tuesday, offered little change from previous years, despite changes in the publication's methodology .

Williams College in Massachusetts held onto its seat at the top yet again. Amherst College, also in Massachusetts, ranked second.

Liberal arts colleges in the ranking are defined as schools that "focus on undergraduate education and award at least 50 percent of their degrees in fields such as English, economics or sociology," U.S. News explained.

All of the schools at the top have fewer than 3,000 students and display tuition and fees for the 2013-2014 above $40,000, but U.S. News notes that looks can be deceiving :

Schools on this list don't always appear affordable, so students need to look beyond sticker prices. Vassar College in New York, the No. 6 Best Value School in the Liberal Arts Colleges category, listed 2012-2013 tuition, room and board, fees and expenses at $59,860, but awarded need-based grants to nearly 60 percent of students that year. The average cost after receiving those funds was $19,470, an average discount of $40,390 off the total cost of attendance.

Check out U.S. News & World Report's ranking of the top liberal arts colleges for 2014 in the slideshow below: