U.S. News and World Report used a variety of deteriming factors to tabulate a list of the 50 best Graduate Schools of 2008.

The schools were ranked according to their performance in categories such as: average starting salary for graduates, percentage of employment after graduation, enrollment and rate of acceptance.

Boasting a higher recruiting score than its competitors, Harvard University was lifted to the top spot on the rankings.

The No. 2 spot went to Stanford University, who despite having a higher starting salary average than Harvard couldn't nudge the Crimson out of the top stop.

The University of Pennsylvania catapulted to the No. 3 spot in rankings thanks to their outstanding business and nursing schools.

Here are the top 25 of U.S. News and World Report's Best Graduate Schools of 2008.

1. Harvard University

2. Stanford University

3. University of Pennsylvania

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

5. Northwestern University
Tie University of Chicago

7. Dartmouth College

8. University of California-Berkley

9. Columbia University

10. New York University

11. University of Michigan- Ann Arbor

12. Duke University

13. University of Virginia

14. Cornell University
Tie Yale University

16. University of California-Los Angeles

17. Carnegie Mellon University

18. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

19. University of Texas-Austin

20. Emory University

21. University of Southern California

22. Ohio State University
Tie Purdue University

24.Indiana University

25. University of Minnesota
Tie Georgetown University
University of Maryland
Georgia Institute of Technology