RALEIGH, NC -- A handful of colleges and universities in North Carolina cracked the top ten of U.S. News & World Report's 2016 Best Colleges list, released Wednesday. The new edition includes data on nearly 1,800 colleges and features rankings of 1,376 schools.

Princeton University remains No. 1 in the Best National Universities category, while Williams College once again tops the Best National Liberal Arts Colleges list. The University of California—Berkeley is the No. 1 Top Public School among National Universities.

The U.S. News rankings focus on academic excellence, with schools ranked on up to 16 measures of academic quality. The rankings emphasize outcomes, with graduation and retention rates carrying the most weight in the methodology at 30 percent. The top schools all have high six-year graduation rates and strong freshman retention rates:

The 2016 edition debuts a Most Innovative Schools list, featuring institutions making inventive improvements in terms of campus life, curriculum, facilities, faculty, students or technology.

U.S. News 2016 Best Colleges Rankings*:

Best National Universities
1. Princeton University (NJ)
2. Harvard University (MA)
3. Yale University (CT)
4. Columbia University (NY)
4. Stanford University (CA)
4. University of Chicago (IL)
7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8. Duke University (NC)
9. University of Pennsylvania
10. California Institute of Technology
10. Johns Hopkins University (MD)
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27. Wake Forest University
30. University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill

Best National Liberal Arts Colleges
1. Williams College (MA)
2. Amherst College (MA)
3. Swarthmore College (PA)
4. Bowdoin College (ME)
4. Middlebury College (VT)
4. Pomona College (CA)
4. Wellesley College (MA)
8. Carleton College (MN)
9. Claremont McKenna College (CA)
9. Davidson College (NC)
9. United States Naval Academy (MD)

Top Public Schools: National Universities
1. University of California—Berkeley
2. University of California—Los Angeles
3. University of Virginia
4. University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
5. University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill

*For the full list of rankings, visit http://www.usnews.com/colleges