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Auburn University checked in at No. 204 on Forbes' "America's Top Colleges" rankings for 2014. (File photo)

Auburn University has bragging rights over the University of Alabama in Forbes' 2014 list of America's best colleges.

But Samford University in Birmingham was the state's highest-ranked college or university in Forbes' annual list, which was released Wednesday.

Samford checked in at No. 203 out of 650 universities nationwide ranked by Forbes. Auburn finished one spot behind at No. 204.

"These rankings further affirm Samford's value, affordability and academic stature," Samford President Andrew Westmoreland said in a news release. "We acknowledge that these types of rankings can be subjective from year-to-year, but also a great source of pride for Samford students, faculty, staff and alumni who celebrate the strong national reputation of their university."

The University of Alabama was ranked No. 335 by Forbes. Other Alabama colleges and universities were farther down the list: Birmingham-Southern College, No. 383; Spring Hill College in Mobile, No. 437; University of Alabama in Huntsville, No. 466; University of Alabama at Birmingham, No. 528; University of South Alabama, No. 593; Troy University, No. 630; and Tuskegee University, No. 632.

Forbes' rankings are quite a bit different from U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges" list released earlier this year. U.S. News rated the University of Alabama as the state's top college and No. 86 nationally. Auburn checked in at No. 91 on the magazine's list, followed by UAB at No. 152 and UAH at No. 181.

This is the seventh year that Forbes has partnered with the Center for College Affordability and Productivity to produce their national rankings. The rankings, which take into account cost, graduation rates, graduate success in the marketplace, student debt and other factors, have tended to favor smaller, liberal arts colleges.

Forbes ranked Williams College in Massachusetts, with total enrollment of just 2,124 students and annual tuition above $60,000, as America's best institution of higher learning for 2014. The rest of the Top 20, in order:

Stanford University

Swarthmore College

Princeton University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Yale University

Harvard University

Pomona College

U.S. Military Academy

Amherst College

Haverford College

University of Pennsylvania

Brown University

Bowdoin College

Wesleyan University

Carleton College

University of Notre Dame

Dartmouth College

Northwestern University

Columbia University

The University of California, Berkeley was Forbes' highest-ranked public university, checking in at No. 37.