United States Private Colleges Ranked by Highest SAT Score

Below is a list of the 783 private colleges in the United States with the highest SAT Score for incoming freshmen. California Institute of Technology leads the list with an average SAT Score of 1555. Alternatively, check out the ACT version of these rankings.

The SAT 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 SAT Score
College	Average SAT Score
Bentley University Waltham, Massachusetts	1355
Syracuse University Syracuse, New York	1355
Chapman University Orange, California	1350
Bennington College Bennington, Vermont	1347
Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, California	1345
Westmont College Santa Barbara, California	1345
Colorado College Colorado Springs, Colorado	1345
Emerson College Boston, Massachusetts	1345
Furman University Greenville, South Carolina	1345
University of St Thomas Saint Paul, Minnesota	1341
The College of Wooster Wooster, Ohio	1340
Willamette University Salem, Oregon	1340
Drexel University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1340
St Lawrence University Canton, New York	1337
College of the Atlantic Bar Harbor, Maine	1335
Creighton University Omaha, Nebraska	1335
Sarah Lawrence College Bronxville, New York	1335
Touro University New York, New York	1335

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: March 15, 2026

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