Here are the top colleges in 2026 with rankings, scores, and university names.
Rank | Name | Location | Final Score | Student Outcomes | Learning Environment | Attractiveness | Control
1 | Stanford University | CA | 96.36 | 95.21 | 99.82 | 99.75 | Private, not-for-profit
2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MA | 94.59 | 96.44 | 81.77 | 100.00 | Private, not-for-profit
3 | Harvey Mudd College | CA | 94.39 | 94.94 | 90.64 | 95.92 | Private, not-for-profit
4 | Princeton University | NJ | 93.50 | 94.35 | 85.10 | 99.67 | Private, not-for-profit
5 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | 92.50 | 94.91 | 78.03 | 96.17 | Public
6 | California Institute of Technology | CA | 92.48 | 93.55 | 82.86 | 98.92 | Private, not-for-profit
7 | University of Pennsylvania | PA | 91.72 | 91.29 | 88.68 | 99.50 | Private, not-for-profit
8 | Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | 91.62 | 89.88 | 95.17 | 99.33 | Private, not-for-profit
9 | Claremont McKenna College | CA | 91.21 | 90.93 | 87.83 | 98.33 | Private, not-for-profit
10 | Harvard University | MA | 91.11 | 90.08 | 90.46 | 99.83 | Private, not-for-profit
11 | Yale University | CT | 91.03 | 88.39 | 98.54 | 99.58 | Private, not-for-profit
12 | Babson College | MA | 90.38 | 94.34 | 67.80 | 94.58 | Private, not-for-profit
13 | Cornell University | NY | 90.08 | 87.70 | 96.00 | 99.08 | Private, not-for-profit
14 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | 89.99 | 94.42 | 64.31 | 95.33 | Public
15 | University of California-Berkeley | CA | 89.43 | 92.75 | 67.75 | 97.00 | Public
16 | University of Florida | FL | 89.14 | 94.74 | 57.38 | 94.83 | Public
17 | Carnegie Mellon University | PA | 88.91 | 88.60 | 85.17 | 96.83 | Private, not-for-profit
18 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | NC | 87.73 | 92.05 | 60.75 | 95.75 | Public
19 | University of Notre Dame | IN | 87.43 | 88.43 | 75.03 | 98.50 | Private, not-for-profit
20 | Georgetown University | DC | 87.03 | 87.94 | 75.40 | 97.58 | Private, not-for-profit
21 | Lehigh University | PA | 86.89 | 89.94 | 68.82 | 91.17 | Private, not-for-profit
22 | Vanderbilt University | TN | 86.76 | 84.64 | 89.49 | 98.58 | Private, not-for-profit
23 | Dartmouth College | NH | 86.75 | 85.53 | 84.38 | 99.42 | Private, not-for-profit
24 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | 86.56 | 94.74 | 39.20 | 96.25 | Public
25 | Brown University | RI | 86.07 | 81.98 | 97.76 | 99.25 | Private, not-for-profit
26 | Williams College | MA | 86.07 | 84.14 | 87.85 | 97.83 | Private, not-for-profit
27 | University of Chicago | IL | 85.88 | 82.81 | 91.87 | 99.92 | Private, not-for-profit
28 | Bentley University | MA | 85.86 | 92.64 | 56.32 | 79.33 | Private, not-for-profit
29 | Santa Clara University | CA | 85.33 | 86.61 | 82.35 | 80.25 | Private, not-for-profit
30 | Stevens Institute of Technology | NJ | 85.17 | 87.93 | 73.23 | 82.42 | Private, not-for-profit
31 | Rice University | TX | 85.09 | 83.84 | 82.86 | 97.75 | Private, not-for-profit
32 | University of Southern California | CA | 85.05 | 83.35 | 85.86 | 96.58 | Private, not-for-profit
33 | Villanova University | PA | 84.92 | 86.79 | 70.04 | 93.25 | Private, not-for-profit
34 | University of California-Los Angeles | CA | 84.59 | 87.75 | 59.88 | 98.00 | Public
35 | University of California-San Diego | CA | 84.37 | 88.98 | 56.57 | 91.50 | Public
36 | CUNY Lehman College | NY | 84.34 | 91.04 | 59.71 | 71.08 | Public
37 | Davidson College | NC | 84.12 | 81.68 | 87.83 | 96.92 | Private, not-for-profit
38 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | CA | 84.08 | 95.11 | 23.84 | 91.67 | Public
39 | Northwestern University | IL | 84.02 | 80.89 | 89.86 | 98.75 | Private, not-for-profit
40 | Duke University | NC | 84.02 | 84.70 | 70.73 | 98.83 | Private, not-for-profit
41 | Johns Hopkins University | MD | 84.01 | 80.78 | 90.78 | 98.08 | Private, not-for-profit
42 | Berea College | KY | 83.88 | 79.61 | 96.67 | 96.75 | Private, not-for-profit
43 | University of California-Santa Barbara | CA | 83.86 | 89.13 | 53.69 | 89.58 | Public
44 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | WI | 83.62 | 91.23 | 43.13 | 87.33 | Public
45 | College of the Holy Cross | MA | 83.48 | 84.06 | 73.64 | 93.92 | Private, not-for-profit
46 | Washington University in St Louis | MO | 83.44 | 80.11 | 90.78 | 97.42 | Private, not-for-profit
47 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College | NY | 83.26 | 91.48 | 42.67 | 82.50 | Public
48 | Boston College | MA | 83.24 | 85.52 | 63.87 | 95.17 | Private, not-for-profit
49 | Washington and Lee University | VA | 83.24 | 85.14 | 65.60 | 95.42 | Private, not-for-profit
50 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | 83.23 | 88.60 | 53.18 | 88.08 | Public
51 | Fashion Institute of Technology | NY | 83.02 | 88.05 | 51.79 | 92.08 | Public
52 | William & Mary | VA | 83.02 | 84.97 | 67.78 | 91.25 | Public
53 | Florida State University | FL | 82.93 | 88.06 | 50.61 | 92.92 | Public
54 | Brigham Young University | UT | 82.78 | 93.66 | 20.72 | 94.25 | Private, not-for-profit
55 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | VA | 82.74 | 92.02 | 36.64 | 82.25 | Public
56 | Bucknell University | PA | 82.59 | 82.80 | 75.38 | 91.83 | Private, not-for-profit
57 | University of Connecticut | CT | 82.57 | 87.89 | 63.55 | 71.25 | Public
58 | Binghamton University | NY | 82.55 | 89.62 | 44.75 | 86.17 | Public
59 | Colorado School of Mines | CO | 82.47 | 91.47 | 40.47 | 77.92 | Public
60 | Swarthmore College | PA | 82.46 | 77.54 | 96.93 | 97.67 | Private, not-for-profit
61 | University of Delaware | DE | 82.19 | 90.92 | 54.68 | 58.00 | Public
62 | Florida International University | FL | 82.12 | 89.68 | 42.11 | 85.50 | Public
63 | University of Maryland-College Park | MD | 81.99 | 89.42 | 42.16 | 86.08 | Public
64 | Bowdoin College | ME | 81.97 | 81.35 | 73.99 | 98.67 | Private, not-for-profit
65 | Colgate University | NY | 81.65 | 79.69 | 82.93 | 94.42 | Private, not-for-profit
66 | Amherst College | MA | 81.64 | 76.19 | 98.89 | 96.67 | Private, not-for-profit
67 | CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice | NY | 81.63 | 86.83 | 56.99 | 79.58 | Public
68 | Lafayette College | PA | 81.57 | 82.51 | 71.29 | 90.00 | Private, not-for-profit
69 | Wellesley College | MA | 81.52 | 76.88 | 94.06 | 97.50 | Private, not-for-profit
70 | University of La Verne | CA | 81.48 | 84.39 | 81.82 | 59.17 | Private, not-for-profit
71 | Citadel Military College of South Carolina | SC | 81.45 | 85.50 | 62.81 | 79.00 | Public
72 | The University of Texas at Austin | TX | 81.44 | 86.12 | 49.09 | 94.92 | Public
73 | Virginia Military Institute | VA | 81.30 | 85.59 | 59.37 | 82.00 | Public
74 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | NC | 81.02 | 87.06 | 44.44 | 90.58 | Public
75 | Massachusetts Maritime Academy | MA | 80.93 | 90.56 | 53.04 | 50.58 | Public
76 | Pomona College | CA | 80.87 | 74.96 | 98.73 | 98.42 | Private, not-for-profit
77 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | MA | 80.59 | 84.78 | 62.99 | 75.58 | Private, not-for-profit
78 | SUNY Maritime College | NY | 80.56 | 87.99 | 54.79 | 63.50 | Public
79 | Texas A & M University-College Station | TX | 80.37 | 86.94 | 42.32 | 88.17 | Public
80 | Colby College | ME | 80.27 | 75.79 | 90.69 | 98.25 | Private, not-for-profit
81 | Fairfield University | CT | 80.14 | 79.89 | 78.70 | 84.17 | Private, not-for-profit
82 | Clemson University | SC | 80.03 | 89.10 | 30.10 | 86.92 | Public
83 | Emory University | GA | 80.03 | 76.36 | 87.97 | 95.67 | Private, not-for-profit
84 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | 80.03 | 85.61 | 50.27 | 82.75 | Public
85 | Molloy University | NY | 79.93 | 85.03 | 85.24 | 33.67 | Private, not-for-profit
86 | University of San Diego | CA | 79.39 | 81.57 | 69.53 | 77.75 | Private, not-for-profit
87 | University of Georgia | GA | 79.38 | 87.54 | 29.96 | 92.25 | Public
88 | New York University | NY | 79.27 | 74.90 | 88.52 | 98.17 | Private, not-for-profit
89 | Middlebury College | VT | 79.16 | 74.42 | 91.29 | 96.50 | Private, not-for-profit
90 | University of California-Davis | CA | 78.86 | 81.87 | 59.81 | 84.92 | Public
91 | George Washington University | DC | 78.65 | 80.00 | 68.40 | 83.92 | Private, not-for-profit
92 | Hamilton College | NY | 78.65 | 76.57 | 77.62 | 95.83 | Private, not-for-profit
93 | Maine Maritime Academy | ME | 78.46 | 80.43 | 64.24 | 85.00 | Public
94 | Barnard College | NY | 78.36 | 72.54 | 93.60 | 99.17 | Private, not-for-profit
95 | New Jersey Institute of Technology | NJ | 78.29 | 82.88 | 64.96 | 63.92 | Public
96 | Trinity College | CT | 78.22 | 78.72 | 67.20 | 91.00 | Private, not-for-profit
97 | University of Richmond | VA | 78.04 | 75.47 | 81.41 | 92.33 | Private, not-for-profit
98 | Yeshiva University | NY | 77.86 | 73.32 | 91.04 | 92.17 | Private, not-for-profit
99 | The College of New Jersey | NJ | 77.80 | 85.98 | 39.32 | 74.17 | Public
100 | Wake Forest University | NC | 77.48 | 75.86 | 74.36 | 94.33 | Private, not-for-profit