West Valley College Western Piedmont Community College Visit the link above to view the final ranking order, find top schools by state, and see additional schools outside the top 50. "In rankings on other sites, students typically see only the largest community colleges. We believe we take a smarter and more comprehensive approach," says Dr. Jed Macosko, academic director of AcademicInfluence.com and professor of physics at Wake Forest University. "We look at how influential the school's faculty is and then factor in the student body size. We call this metric 'Concentrated Influence.' Those community colleges with a strong faculty but comparatively fewer students, schools that might otherwise get lost in the shadows of their larger competitors, now have an opportunity to shine," says Macosko. "Because students often choose to attend a school nearby, this kind of illumination provides a truer view of how influential their neighborhood community college may actually be, regardless of its size."