Top Ranked U.S. Colleges

The Best Colleges in America Ranked for 2019

These are the best four year colleges in the United States as ranked by CollegeSimply. Our ranking methodology is purely statistical and not subjective in nature. Measuring factors include but are not limited to: student body intellect as indicated by admission scores, graduation rate and admission selectivity. In order to be considered for the ranking, a school must offer four year undergraduate degrees, selectively admit students and be a non-profit institution. Leading the 2019 ranking as the best college in the United States is Yale University.

List of The Best Colleges & Universities in America

Rank	College	National Academic Rank1	National Selectivity Rank2	National Graduation Rank3
1	Yale University	2	5	1
2	Harvard University	4	1	2
3	Princeton University	11	3	6
4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	8	6	21
5	University of Chicago	3	12	28
6	Brown University	13	11	15
7	Stanford University	25	2	9
8	University of Pennsylvania	20	14	8
9	Williams College	9	33	12
10	Pomona College	26	9	11
11	Duke University	23	18	18
12	Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	15	27	10
13	Northwestern University	16	13	17
14	Amherst College	17	23	4
15	Johns Hopkins University	7	22	41
16	Columbia University in the City of New York	12	7	24
17	California Institute of Technology	1	8	69
18	Dartmouth College	18	16	13
19	Vanderbilt University	14	20	37
20	Swarthmore College	24	19	14
21	Rice University	5	42	38
22	Claremont McKenna College	31	15	39
23	Washington University in St Louis	10	41	23
24	University of Notre Dame	35	45	3
25	Cornell University	22	26	25
26	Georgetown University	32	39	16
27	Carleton College	28	49	22
28	Harvey Mudd College	6	29	99
29	Tufts University	21	32	56
30	Haverford College	30	47	36
31	University of Southern California	41	37	53
32	Carnegie Mellon University	19	56	75
33	Wellesley College	27	54	31
34	Barnard College	45	34	33
35	Colby College	43	40	40
36	University of California Berkeley	57	43	51
37	University of California Los Angeles	73	35	52
38	Emory University	33	52	54
39	Middlebury College	40	44	59
40	Davidson College	64	46	35
41	Grinnell College	36	87	64
42	Colgate University	46	80	34
43	Vassar College	48	64	45
44	University of Virginia Main Campus	51	76	19
45	Hamilton College	38	63	60
46	University of Michigan	44	74	57
47	Washington and Lee University	56	57	49
48	Boston College	53	98	42
49	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	68	65	61
50	Brandeis University	60	113	43

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Ranking Methodology

Overall Rank is calculated based on the following school characteristics.

¹National Academic Rank is calculated using standardized test admission data as well as GPA data for admitted freshman.
²National Selectivity Rank is based on admission selectivity for incoming students starting the 2016-2017 academic year.
³National Graduation Rank is based on the percentage of students graduating with bachelor's degrees within six years.