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 Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, Mississippi	22
University of Central Missouri Warrensburg, Missouri	22
Missouri State University Springfield Springfield, Missouri	22
Montana Technological University Butte, Montana	22
The University of Montana Missoula, Montana	22
University of Nebraska at Kearney Kearney, Nebraska	22
University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, Nebraska	22
University of Nevada Reno Reno, Nevada	22
Rutgers University Camden Camden, New Jersey	22
University of New Mexico Main Campus Albuquerque, New Mexico	22
SUNY College of Technology at Alfred Alfred, New York	22
Western Carolina University Cullowhee, North Carolina	22
North Dakota State University Main Campus Fargo, North Dakota	22
Bowling Green State University Main Campus Bowling Green, Ohio	22
Youngstown State University Youngstown, Ohio	22
Oregon Institute of Technology Klamath Falls, Oregon	22
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania	22
Penn State Berks Reading, Pennsylvania	22

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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.