After taking a year away from our rankings during the pandemic, we’ve tweaked the way we assess the nation’s best schools. The new rankings give extra credit to schools that educate the greatest number of students from the broadest range of backgrounds. In contrast to Cal’s 2021 graduating class of 9,000, Harvard’s numbered just 1,500. Only 12% of Harvard undergrads receive Pell Grants, which helps explain why that vaunted 384-year-old private institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a perennial No. 1 on college lists, fell to No. 7 in the Forbes ranking.