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
Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, Massachusetts	27
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse, New York	27
State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, New York	27
SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, New York	27
Miami University Oxford Oxford, Ohio	27
Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon	27
College of Charleston Charleston, South Carolina	27
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City, South Dakota	27
Christopher Newport University Newport News, Virginia	27
George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia	27
Virginia Military Institute Lexington, Virginia	27
Western Washington University Bellingham, Washington	27
Florida Polytechnic University Lakeland, Florida	27
University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, Alabama	26
University of California Riverside Riverside, California	26
Colorado State University Fort Collins Fort Collins, Colorado	26
University of South Florida Tampa, Florida	26
University of Maine Orono, Maine	26

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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.