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 Maine Portland, Maine	26
Grand Valley State University Allendale, Michigan	26
University of Michigan Dearborn Dearborn, Michigan	26
Wayne State University Detroit, Michigan	26
University of Missouri Columbia Columbia, Missouri	26
Rowan University Glassboro, New Jersey	26
Ramapo College of New Jersey Mahwah, New Jersey	26
University at Albany Albany, New York	26
SUNY Polytechnic Institute Utica, New York	26
State University of New York at Oswego Oswego, New York	26
University of North Carolina Asheville Asheville, North Carolina	26
University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, North Carolina	26
University of Cincinnati Main Campus Cincinnati, Ohio	26
University of Toledo Toledo, Ohio	26
University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Norman, Oklahoma	26
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon	26
Penn State Harrisburg Middletown, Pennsylvania	26
West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, Pennsylvania	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.