DR. WALLACE: Which college or university in the United States do you feel offers the best education for its students? Our social science class is trying to come up with a "top ten." We are writing to a number of people for their opinion. We are also doing reliable research to find the very best schools of higher learning.

Which college or university did you attend to gain your first degree? — Bev, Boston, Mass.

BEV: Some schools have an excellent reputation based on quality of the instructors, grade-point average of their students, the number of graduates who attend graduate school, and a host of other criteria.

Some companies seek status by hiring employees who have graduated from these "elite" schools. I am not impressed by the so-called "prestige" certain schools possess. I am a firm believer that a serious student can get a quality education at every accredited college or university in the United States. Simply put, there are no accredited colleges or universities that are substandard.

Some former presidents of the United States graduated from tax-supported schools, while some graduates of so-called "elite" private schools are flipping hamburgers at fast food restaurants. It's the desire and intelligence of the student that matters most, not the name of the school he or she attended.

The Princeton Review surveys students annually to find interesting data. Here are a few you might find amusing. Personally, I'm happy not to see my favorite school mentioned in this survey:

—Best run school: US Military Academy (West Point, NY)

—Most beautiful campus: Washington and Lee University (Lexington, VA)

—Least beautiful campus: Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, IL)

—Best dorms: Randolph-Macon Women's College (Lynchburg, VA)

—Worst dorms: Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL)

—Best campus food: College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, ME)

—Worst campus food: St. John's College (Annapolis, MD)

—Happiest students: Washington and Lee University, (Lexington, VA)

—Least happy students: New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark, NJ)

—Number-one party school: State University of New York (Albany, NY)

—School with least alcohol problem: Brigham Young University (Provo, UT)

—Top "fraternity/sorority" school: Washington and Lee University (Lexington, VA)

—Top "get involved with athletics" school: Wabash College (Crawfordsville, IN)

When searching for an institution of higher learning I was, indeed, fortunate to find Knox College (Galesburg, Ill.). It was there that I gained the skills to teach at the high school and college levels and to write this syndicated teen column appearing in newspapers throughout the United States. It was also at Knox that I met my life-long companion, my wife Mona.

As you can see, I give credit to a school of higher learning for much of the success that I have been fortunate enough to achieve.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.