The Best Colleges and Universities in America, Ranked

The United States Naval Academy, as you might have guessed, is a university that’s dedicated to naval members and training them in federal service.

The school is located in Annapolis, Maryland, and it has a long history as one of the most famous schools in which to be trained. Then again, with an acceptance rate as low as 5%, it’s easy to see how competition would get fierce to try and get in.

Colgate University is located in Hamilton, New York — and you get a pretty personalized experience with a teacher-to-student ratio of only 9:1.

With a primary focus on liberal arts, the college still offers 56 majors, so there’s a bit of diversity in what to study while you’re on campus. This private university isn’t easy to get into, though. The acceptance rate is only 17.2%, making it one of the harder spots to get into.

Washinton and Lee University is located in Lexington, Virginia, and is named after a pair of famous American historical figures. How does the college itself measure up?

This is a liberal arts college, but while most are located in the city, you get to learn in the quiet Virginia mountains. Here, you’ll primarily find liberal arts degrees although the school does boast a well-known School of Law. They have an 8:1 ratio of students to staff, which is helped by a low acceptance rate of about 18% to 19%.

If you want to step into the future and study what comes tomorrow for tech and what you can do today to keep it up and running, the Georgia Institute of Technology is a great choice on the list.

As the name suggests, you’ll find the main campus in Atlanta, Georgia. The school has been around since 1885, so they’ve adapted to teaching new technology wildly over the years! If you want to get in, you’ll have to get back the 16% acceptance rate.

If you’re looking for a college experience in Georgia but aren’t sure if you want to head to the Georgia Institute of Technology, another option is the Oxford Campus of Emory University.

This is a private college, so you can expect a higher price tag but a range of acceptance rates measured at anywhere from 15% to 19%, depending on the academic year. This is a good college to look into if you’re interested in the Humanities or liberal arts.

Back in the day, Vassar College was opened as a college specifically for women. Later, they’d also become the first women’s college to go co-ed, so anyone can get in now! They have a slightly more forgiving acceptance rate than we’ve seen so far, hovering around 20%.

As for the departments the college offers, there’s really no shortage! At this university in Poughkeepsie, you can study languages, science, psychology, math, history and more — even including more artistic departments like dance and drama.

Carleton College is located in Northfield, Minnesota, so it’s a good choice if you want your private school to come with crisper weather and a smaller campus.

This small campus is another one that leads to a lot of dedicated instruction since there’s a staff member for every eight students that attend. How hard is it to get into this Minnesota university? You’ll have to beat a 17.5% acceptance rate if you want a chance to learn in these halls.

As you might have guessed from the name, Cooper Union is all about supporting students in the arts and sciences. If you want to attend, you’ll have to head to New York, New York.

The school has an acceptance rate of just over 14%, so it’s a good idea to really nail down an application that you’re proud of. Scoring more than a 1400 score on your SATs won’t hurt either!

Wellesley College refers to itself as “one of the most academically challenging institutions” you’ll find in the United States.

The college is located in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and the campus looks like a quintessential New England school. Inside the academic buildings, you can study a variety of degrees with a tight faculty-to-student ratio of 7:1. As for the acceptance rate, they let in about 16% of applicants who apply for their programs.

There are some schools with so much name recognition that you might know about them even if you live on the other side of the country. The University of California-Berkeley is definitely one such school.

Located in Berkeley, California, the school caters to both undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of majors. That means a lot of people compete to get in even though the acceptance rate is about 14%.

The University of California-Los Angeles is, naturally, located in L.A. So, you’ll get the chance to experience California city living while you’re studying away.

If you want to attend this particular California university, though, the competition is fierce, as the school only accepts about 10% to 11% of applicants. However, both graduate and undergraduate students get to boast a degree from UCLA. The college has made its mark in college sports as well.

If you want a college experience in the Northeastern United States, one rather highly-regarded college in Haverford, Pennsylvania is Haverford College. This college caters to liberal arts majors, which still leaves a lot of options for students under that umbrella.

This is another ratio where students get the chance to work with staff quite a bit and learn from them both inside the classroom and in more hands-on learning environments. As for the acceptance rate, it sits at just about 17.8%.

Northeastern University is nestled in the hustle and bustle of Boston, Massachusetts. So, students get a chance to live in and explore the city in between classes!

As for getting in, they have an acceptance rate of about 18%, so you’ll have to impress them with your application to take advantage of their amenities. Of course, there’s always the cost of attendance on top of that. The college caters to both undergraduate and graduate students.

A private college in Clinton, New York, Hamilton College was once known as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 but dropped to just Hamilton College in 1812.

You have 55 options if you want to get your Bachelor of the Arts here but the most popular on campus include biology, psychology, mathematics, economics, and political science. You’ll have to beat a 14% acceptance rate to get a major here with some estimates on acceptance being as low as 11%.

If you’re looking for something that has a quieter locale than big cities like New York, you could always head over to Middlebury College, located in Middlebury, Vermont. The college has been around since 1800 and operates as a private liberal arts college.

However, admission is tight — they usually only take in a new 600 students each fall and another hundred in the spring. On top of a small school with a tight staff-to-student ratio, tuition, room, and board for a single academic year is almost $80,000!

Another of many options to explore in New York is New York University — more often called NYU. This one is actually the largest private research university around, too.

Even though it’s large, it’s not easy to get into the school. If you take a look at the undergraduate class of 2028, you’ll see the college only accepted 8% of applicants. Once inside, though, you can study a variety of majors, whether you’re an undergraduate or a graduate student.

Before we leave New York, let’s talk about another college in New York City. While Bernard College isn’t considered Ivy League, it does get a strong reputation boost due to a connection to Columbia University.

It serves as one of the four undergraduate options for Columbia and as a private liberal arts college for women. It’s also one of the “Seven Sisters” colleges. It allows students to study any of about 50 academic areas but the admittance rate in 2022 was sitting at an exclusive 6%.

The University of Southern California has enough name recognition that it barely needs an introduction. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a rather sprawling school.

The university caters to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, so you could do all your schooling here if you find you like it. In addition to that, the university serves as a pretty prestigious research center as well. The acceptance rate sits at about 12%

Claremont McKenna College crosses over into the Ivy League status of schools. With that comes a fair amount of prestige and fierce competition to attend. Prospective students are up against a 10% acceptance rate for this school in Claremont, California.

The student-to-faculty ratio is only 8:1, and some reports say that more than 80% of their classes feature 20 students or less. That means you get a lot more time to dive in and ask questions than in a massive lecture hall.

Another college that’s named for the place it resides, Amherst College is located in none other than Amherst, Massachusetts. Along with Wesleyan University and Williams College, it’s considered one of the “Little Three” colleges.

Unlike a lot of the colleges and universities we’ve looked at so far on this list, Amherst College caters specifically to undergraduate students. If you’re more interested in sports, the school boasts a spot in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. All that is behind an about 8% acceptance rate.

The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is a public research university that’s been open since 1795, although it was chartered six years earlier.

The school features 13 professional schools that cater to students, offering more than 70 different paths of study for academics to find their fit. Then, they also cater to graduate and even doctoral students. The admittance rate isn’t as tight as some of the others we’ve seen but still sits at a strict 16.8%.

One option that you have if you want to go to school in New Orleans, Louisiana, is the Tulane University of Louisiana. The university first existed as a medical college in the 1830s but has grown since then.

Now, the university is organized into 10 schools dedicated to various subjects. It’s not easy to get in, though. The undergraduate class of 2026 represents only 8.4% of applicants, making it a rather competitive school to try and get into.

Grinnell College is located in Grinnell, Iowa, and functions as a private liberal arts college. Given that it’s in Iowa, it’s no surprise there’s plenty of space — students can explore 120 acres of campus.

The school caters primarily to undergraduate students but they have programs to help students transition to graduate programs with other universities. All in all, they have a lot of tools in place to help their students. To access them, you’ll just need to be one of the about 10% of applicants they accept.

Tufts University is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and offers all the amenities of a private research university. It’s not an Ivy League, but it’s often included among the “Little Ivies.”

You can study here whether you’re after an undergraduate, graduate, or even doctoral degree. As an undergraduate, you have 90 paths of study with 160 programs for graduate students, including their French campus. All that is reserved for only 9% of applicants, though.

Colby College is located in Waterville, Maine. The private liberal arts college is pretty expansive, and you can choose between 54 majors and 30 minors to pair together to suit you.

They also offer a lot of time to explore off-campus as well with some reports stating that as many as two-thirds of students get the chance to study off-campus before they graduate. Back in 2016, you might have had a better chance with an 18.7% acceptance rate but in 2023, they only accepted 6.4% of applicants.

When it comes to schools with name recognition, the University of Notre Dame definitely makes the cut. The university operates as a private research university with expansive options.

You can go to the University of Notre Dame if you want to study the arts, law, architecture, accounting, and a variety of other subjects. Of course, the school has its place in sports as well. The 2022 entering class only had an acceptance rate of 12.9%, though, so you better be on your toes!

Looking at this list, it seems like Pennsylvania has a particular dedication to famous schools. Maybe it’s just big enough that they all happen to be there — who knows?

This time we’re looking at Swarthmore College located in, fittingly, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. The school offers an array of studies but their most popular options tend to lean towards the sciences and economics. Only 6.9% of applicants were accepted when they introduced the 2022 entering undergraduate class.

In Williamstown, Massachusetts, you’ll find a private liberal arts college named Williams College. It’s been around since 1793 and has made quite a name for itself since!

The university focused on the humanities, social sciences, and sciences for undergraduates, including 25 departments with 36 majors. While limited, they do offer two master’s programs in development economics and art history as well. If you want to study in these halls, the competition is a tight 8% acceptance rate.

Another private research university to consider if you’re interested is located in St. Louis, Missouri. Named after the first president, Washinton University in St. Louis opened back in 1853.

This school has a lot to offer no matter where you are in your academic career. They have eight colleges in the university that cater to undergraduate, graduate, and even professional students. The bar is set high for incoming students, however, with an acceptance rate of 10%.

Georgetown University is another college with so much name recognition that you were probably waiting to see it on this list. There’s a good reason for that, too!

Located right in Washington D.C., the college offers both undergraduate and graduate programs across 11 schools. As for athletes, they also participate in the Big East Conference for men’s basketball. Of course, this comes with another strict acceptance rate of only 11.7%.

Carnegie Mellon University was started back in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist and massively successful businessman. Since then, the university has only continued to gain praise and name recognition.

The colleges within the university are diverse. Carnegie Mellon has Nobel Prize winners, Emmy winners, and NCAA athletes among its alumni. The school only accepts about 11.3% of applicants based on its 2022 admissions, so it isn’t one you’ll breeze into.

It’s no surprise to see the Ivy League colleges among the top-ranked colleges in the United States. Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, is one such school. They offer programs for both undergraduate and graduate students, with eight colleges for the former and seven colleges for the latter.

Not surprisingly, it comes with a competitive acceptance rate too, letting in only about 6.9% of applicants. That means that you’ll really want to tighten up that application before you send it in!

Northwestern University is well-known as one of the premier colleges in the United States. It’s located in Evanston, Illinois, and is actually the oldest chartered university in the state!

The sprawling campus is full of amenities to cater to students. You can stop by one of multiple libraries and even museums for undergraduate and graduate students to take advantage of. If you’re looking to enroll, the admittance rate for the undergraduate program most recently sat at 7.2%.

Pomona College is located in Claremont, California, and operates as a liberal arts college run privately. If you study in these halls, you might sit in the same lecture seat that an Emmy, Oscar, Grammy, or Tony winner once learned in.

You an choose among 48 majors when you enroll in Pomona College. Most of these programs also give you the chance to study a minor relating to it, if you want to add it to your curriculum without fully committing to it as a major. Of course, you have to get in first and admittance is only 6.8%.

Rice University is located in Houston, Texas and sits right in between the museum district and the medical center in the area. That means it’s a prime location for the aspiring academics.

There are a lot of paths of study to choose from too. The university has colleges dedicated to the humanities, sciences, natural sciences, business, engineering, architecture, music, and continuing studies. Less than 9% of applicants get access to this new school, though.

It seems like there’s no shortage of schools that you can attend in Claremont, California. Another prestigious option to add to the shortlist if you’re interested in Harvey Mudd College.

The university operates as a private liberal arts college but it particularly focuses on the sciences and engineering. The sciences that are most popular among them are math, chemistry, biology, engineering, computer science, and physics. The class of 2026 has a 13.4% acceptance rate which still makes for tight competition.

The University of Pennsylvania is commonly just referred to as Penn or UPenn when you’re walking around campus. It’s right in Philadelphia, one in a cluster of schools in the area locally known as University City.

It’s no surprise that this school is so prestigious and selective. After all, it is one of the Ivy League schools! As such, it’s not much of a surprise that you’ll face some stiff competition trying to get in. They only accepted about 4.24% of students in 2022.

There are few universities that are quite as easy to recognize as Johns Hopkins University. If you’ve ever faced a serious medical crisis on the East Coast, you might have stopped by.

However, the private research university in Baltimore, Maryland isn’t just dedicated to medicine. You can study here in multiple disciplines to earn your BA, BS, MA, MS, or PhD at Johns Hopkins University. Only under 5% of admissions are accepted for the new semesters, though.

Another Ivy League college that we can’t skip on our list is Dartmouth College. You’ll find this university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth College has quite a history behind it too.

It was formed in 1769 as one of the nine colonial colleges. Today, it’s considered one of the most prestigious options an undergrad can tout. The overall acceptance rate of the school as of the fall of 2023 was only 6.23%.

Vanderbilt University is another school opened by an industrialist, this time Cornelius Vanderbilt. It’s located in Nashville, Tennessee, and caters to everyone from undergrad to doctoral students.

The enrollment process isn’t easy to get through — they only let 6.7% of students in judging by the 2022 undergraduate class. There are a lot of options once you get in, though. Vanderbilt offers 70 majors for undergrads and even the option to create your own major.

Brown University is another Ivy League option that you have in the United States. This time, the university is located in Providence, Rhode Island and it’s the seventh oldest in the country.

As you might expect, this makes competition rather fierce – the college only accepts about 4% of the applications sent to them each year. Once you get in, though, you can study here for both your undergraduate and graduate degrees.

When it comes to universities in New York, it seems like there are so many that it’s hard to stand out. We’ve seen a few that prove that it isn’t impossible, though. One university that’s known the world over in New York is Columbia.

In fact, it’s even made its way to be one of the schools considered to sit at an Ivy League status. For the entering class of 2021, however, the acceptance rate was at an exceptionally low 3.9%.

Continuing to consider the Ivy League path, the next school that we’re looking at is the famous Yale University. You’ll find its campus in New Haven, Connecticut. It’s a school with a lot of history too.

Did you know the first PhD in the U.S. was awarded here? It takes a lot to get in, with an acceptance rate in 2022 of 4.46%. Then again, it comes with a high graduation percentage of around 98% too!

Heading back to the West Coast of the United States, we have Stanford University. This school is located, naturally, in Stanford, California.

One interesting thing about Stanford is that it was opened in the late 1800s but has always been co-educational. You can study a variety of subjects here but no matter what your choice, you’ll have to work hard and be lucky enough to come out as one of the less than 4% of applications they accept.

Not too terribly far from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, you have this North Carolina university that you’ve surely heard of before — Duke University.

Whether you’re interested in being a student-athlete or studying for your undergraduate or graduate degree, Duke University has programs to cater to that. All in all, they have 50 majors, 52 minors, and a narrow acceptance rate of 6.2%.

Another one of the Ivy League schools you’ll find on your search, Princeton University, is located in Princeton, New Jersey. Chartered before the Revolutionary War, it’s one of the oldest schools in the country.

The university is well-known for its undergraduate and graduate programs and even participates in student athletics. You won’t find it easy to study at this New Jersey university, though. As you might expect from a school of such stature, you’ll have to beat a 5.6% acceptance rate to get in.

We don’t need to introduce where you’ll find the University of Chicago, and we’d definitely guess that you’ve heard the name before. It’s one of the few this far in the list that isn’t considered Ivy League.

The school offers programs for both undergraduate and graduate students with eight professional schools on top of that. The renown of this school is worldwide and applicants face a tight acceptance rate of only 4.8%.

Long considered a rival of Yale University, Harvard University is another school that makes it near the top of this list for being so well-known and prestigious. You’ll find this one in New England as well, this time nestled in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

At Harvard, you’ll have your pick among 50 majors as an undergraduate and 134 degrees as a graduate. If you’re after a professional degree, there are 32 programs to choose from. Only about 3.2% of applicants get in each year.

Still in Massachusetts is another premiere school, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, more widely referred to as MIT. Actually, it’s not that far from Harvard, still in Cambridge.

The school has made quite a name for itself when it comes to science and technological advancements, making it a hub for up-and-coming brilliant tech and science minds. It follows a polytechnic model, and students get a lot of hands-on learning in their field of study. That is, 4% of applicants get the chance for that.

In this day and age, it’s no surprise that technological schools are gaining a lot of prestige and traction. Can you imagine going a single day if every piece of technology you rely on failed on you? Another school where you can learn and train to be one of the technological engineers of tomorrow is the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Once again, this is another university where the students and faculty have made scientific history over the years. That prestige doesn’t come easy, though, and you’ll need to beat most applicants out to be one of the 2.4% accepted into the school.