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
University of Richmond University of Richmond, Virginia	34
Stanford University Stanford, California	34
University of Southern California Los Angeles, California	33
Georgetown University Washington, District Of Columbia	33
Emory University Atlanta, Georgia	33
Colby College Waterville, Maine	33
Boston University Boston, Massachusetts	33
Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, Massachusetts	33
Smith College Northampton, Massachusetts	33
Carleton College Northfield, Minnesota	33
Barnard College New York, New York	33
Colgate University Hamilton, New York	33
Webb Institute Glen Cove, New York	33
Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, North Carolina	33
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio	33
Villanova University Villanova, Pennsylvania	33
Washington and Lee University Lexington, Virginia	33
Northeastern University Oakland Oakland, California	32

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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.