the head of the class

For colleges and universities across the country, September means more than just the start of a new school year. It also means the much-anticipated release of U.S. News & World Report's annual "America's Best Colleges" report, which ranks colleges and universities on a wide range of criteria.

For the past few years, U.S. News has included logistics and supply chain programs in its rankings of schools by college majors. To come up with those rankings, the magazine surveyed deans and senior faculty at accredited undergraduate business programs. Respondents rated the quality of programs they were familiar with on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). They also nominated the best programs in specialty areas.

Here are their picks for the top undergraduate logistics and supply chain business programs (the names of the business schools offering that major appear in parentheses):

1. Michigan State University (Broad)
2. Arizona State University (Carey)
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
4. The Ohio State University (Fisher)
5. The Pennsylvania State University (Smeal)