United States Public Colleges Ranked by Highest ACT Score

Below is a list of the 443 public colleges in the United States with the highest ACT Score for incoming freshmen. University of Maryland College Park leads the list with an average ACT Score of 33. 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 Public Colleges Ranked by Highest ACT Score
College	Average ACT Score
University of Maryland College Park College Park, Maryland	33
William & Mary Williamsburg, Virginia	33
University of Virginia Main Campus Charlottesville, Virginia	33
University of Washington Bothell Campus Bothell, Washington	33
University of California Berkeley Berkeley, California	32
University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, California	32
Georgia Institute of Technology Main Campus Atlanta, Georgia	32
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Champaign, Illinois	32
University of Michigan Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, Michigan	32
University of California San Diego La Jolla, California	31
University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California	31
University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, Colorado	31
Colorado School of Mines Golden, Colorado	31
University of Florida Gainesville, Florida	31
University of Georgia Athens, Georgia	31
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, Massachusetts	31
Binghamton University Vestal, New York	31
Stony Brook University Stony Brook, New York	31

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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.