America's 100 Best College Buys® identifies those colleges and universities that:

• are accredited, four-year institutions offering bachelor degrees.
• offer full residential facilities including residence halls and dining services.
• had their most recent entering freshman class reporting a high school grade point average (GPA)and/or SAT/ACT score equal to or above the national average for entering college freshmen.
• have an out-of-state cost of attendance for three quarters or two semesters below the national average cost of tuition, fees, room and board or not exceeding the national average cost by more than ten percent.

America's Best Private Colleges® identifies those colleges and universities that:

• are accredited, privately supported, four-year institutions offering bachelor degrees.
• offer full residential facilities including residence halls and dining services.
• had their most entering freshman class reporting a high school grade point average (GPA) and/or SAT/ACT score equal to or above the national average for freshmen entering private institutions of higher education.

America's Best Public Colleges® identifies those colleges and universities that:

• are accredited, publicly supported, four-year institutions offering bachelor degrees.
• offer full residential facilities including residence halls and dining services.
• had their most recent entering freshman class reporting a high school grade point average (GPA) and/or SAT/ACT score equal to or above the national average for freshmen entering public institutions of higher education.

America's Best Christian Colleges® identifies those colleges and universities that:

• are accredited, four-year institutions offering bachelor degrees.
• offer full residential facilities including residence halls and dining services.
• had their most recent entering freshman class reporting a high school grade point average (GPA) and/or SAT/ACT score equal to or above the national average for all freshmen entering Christian institutions of higher education.
• are affiliated with a recognized Christian denomination, or claim current or historical association with, or are governed directly by a recognized Christian denomination, or are an interdenominational institution providing an educational experience incorporating basic Christian principles and beliefs into the instructional curriculum and/or social environment.

America's Best Small Colleges® identifies those colleges and universities that:

• are accredited, four-year institutions offering bachelor degrees.
• offer full residential facilities including residence halls and dining services.
• had their most recent entering freshman class reporting a high school grade point average (GPA) and/or SAT/ACT score equal to or above the national average for freshmen entering institutions with full-time undergraduate enrollments of not more than one thousand (1,000) students.

America's Best College Scholarships® identifies those accredited colleges and universities providing facilities for room and board that offer merit-based scholarships meeting all of the following requirements:

• available to qualified, incoming, full-time freshmen, male or female.
• academic (merit) based, only. Not subject to financial need.
• not repayable in money or by performance of mandatory service.
• renewable, upon meeting established requirements, for a total enrollment period of at least eight semesters or twelve quarters.
• the dollar value must be equal to at least 50% of the annual cost of attendance for out-of-state students at public institutions or the regular cost of attendance at a private institution, inclusive of tuition, mandatory fees, room and board.
• not subject to residency requirements of any particular city, state, region, service area or employment, avocation, association membership or military service of the applicant or applicant's family members.
• available to applicants who are U.S. citizens without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex or national origin and not directed to applicants of any identifiable or designated group including any particular socio-economic, nationalistic, ethnic or handicapped group.
• administered by the institution and derived from institutional funds or endowments or from outside private foundation or corporate sources not related directly or indirectly to any local, state or federal governments.