Top Ranked U.S. Colleges

The Best Colleges in America Ranked for 2018

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 our 2018 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	3	1
2	Harvard University	4	1	2
3	Princeton University	7	5	6
4	Stanford University	10	2	9
5	University of Chicago	3	8	28
6	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	6	9	21
7	University of Pennsylvania	15	13	8
8	Columbia University in the City of New York	8	6	24
9	Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	11	16	10
10	Pomona College	22	11	11
11	Amherst College	19	26	4
12	Northwestern University	18	17	17
13	University of Notre Dame	23	43	3
14	Dartmouth College	20	18	13
15	Vanderbilt University	9	20	37
16	California Institute of Technology	1	7	69
17	Brown University	16	14	15
18	Duke University	14	19	18
19	Johns Hopkins University	12	23	41
20	Rice University	17	31	38
21	Swarthmore College	29	24	14
22	Washington University in St Louis	13	39	23
23	Georgetown University	30	38	16
24	Williams College	24	42	12
25	Cornell University	28	29	25
26	University of California Berkeley	21	35	51
27	Claremont McKenna College	41	10	39
28	Harvey Mudd College	5	22	99
29	Tufts University	32	27	56
30	Carleton College	25	54	22
31	Haverford College	33	48	36
32	University of Southern California	34	36	53
33	University of California Los Angeles	44	40	52
34	Grinnell College	27	46	64
35	Colby College	53	44	40
36	Carnegie Mellon University	26	51	75
37	Emory University	35	64	54
38	Middlebury College	40	34	59
39	Davidson College	66	47	35
40	Vassar College	39	74	45
41	University of Michigan Ann Arbor	38	84	57
42	Colgate University	55	86	34
43	University of Virginia Main Campus	56	91	19
44	Hamilton College	48	71	60
45	Washington and Lee University	57	62	49
46	Boston College	54	94	42
47	Brandeis University	46	107	43
48	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	72	75	61
49	Oberlin College	60	79	67
50	Kenyon College	67	76	73

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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.