United States Private Colleges Ranked by Highest ACT Score

Below is a list of the 708 private colleges in the United States with the highest ACT Score for incoming freshmen. California Institute of Technology leads the list with an average ACT Score of 35. Alternatively, check out the SAT version of these rankings.

The ACT is a standardized test used by colleges to evaluate applicants. It is not a guarantee of success in college, but it is a strong indicator of academic potential.

List of United States Private Colleges Ranked by Highest ACT Score
College	Average ACT Score
Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, Ohio	28
University of Portland Portland, Oregon	28
Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania	28
Messiah University Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	28
Southwestern University Georgetown, Texas	28
Texas Christian University Fort Worth, Texas	28
Saint Michael's College Colchester, Vermont	28
Virginia Wesleyan University Virginia Beach, Virginia	28
Marquette University Milwaukee, Wisconsin	28
Hendrix College Conway, Arkansas	27
Azusa Pacific University Azusa, California	27
California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, California	27
University of the Pacific Stockton, California	27
University of San Francisco San Francisco, California	27
Whittier College Whittier, California	27
University of Hartford West Hartford, Connecticut	27
Quinnipiac University Hamden, Connecticut	27
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, Florida	27

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: August 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.