United States Public Colleges Ranked by Highest SAT Score

Below is a list of the 482 public colleges in the United States with the highest SAT Score for incoming freshmen. University of Virginia Main Campus leads the list with an average SAT Score of 1475. 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 Public Colleges Ranked by Highest SAT Score
College	Average SAT Score
SUNY College at Geneseo Geneseo, New York	1265
University of North Carolina Asheville Asheville, North Carolina	1265
University of Cincinnati Main Campus Cincinnati, Ohio	1265
University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California	1260
Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana	1260
University of Louisiana at Monroe Monroe, Louisiana	1260
CUNY Hunter College New York, New York	1260
George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia	1260
Western Colorado University Gunnison, Colorado	1258
State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, New York	1255
University of North Carolina School of the Arts Winston Salem, North Carolina	1255
James Madison University Harrisonburg, Virginia	1255
Florida Polytechnic University Lakeland, Florida	1255
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, North Carolina	1252
Salisbury University Salisbury, Maryland	1250
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, New York	1250
CUNY City College New York, New York	1250
University of Houston Houston, Texas	1250

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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.