Best Mid Atlantic Colleges
There are 197 ranked four-year colleges in the Mid Atlantic, evaluated with the same methodology used for our national rankings. Only nonprofit, selective four-year schools are included.
Leading our 2027 rankings is Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, topping our list in the Mid Atlantic. The top rated public university is University at Buffalo. Also highly ranked: Cornell University, Columbia University in the City of New York and University of Pennsylvania.
Compare tuition, acceptance rates, and enrollment across the colleges below. See how rankings are calculated on our methodology page. Explore the regional list below or browse individual states.
Princeton University
- Private 4 Year
- Princeton, NJ
-
5.0 | 3 reviews
- Jan 1 application deadline
Princeton is an Ivy League university known for undergraduate economics, public policy, and engineering. Most undergraduates complete a required senior thesis and live in residential colleges.
- SAT Range 1510-1580
- Avg GPA 3.93
- Acceptance Rate 5%
- Net Price $15,313
Cornell University
- Private 4 Year
- Ithaca, NY
-
4.0 | 4 reviews
- Jan 2 application deadline
Cornell is an Ivy League university known for undergraduate engineering, hotel administration, and agriculture and life sciences. The hillside campus overlooks Cayuga Lake in the college town of Ithaca.
- SAT Range 1500-1570
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.9
- Acceptance Rate 9%
- Net Price $26,361
Columbia University in the City of New York
- Private 4 Year
- New York, NY
-
| 0 reviews
- Jan 1 application deadline
Columbia is an Ivy League university known for its undergraduate Core Curriculum, political science, and economics. The urban campus sits in Morningside Heights in Manhattan.
- SAT Range 1510-1580
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.91
- Acceptance Rate 4%
- Net Price $22,520
University of Pennsylvania
- Private 4 Year
- Philadelphia, PA
-
5.0 | 3 reviews
- Jan 5 application deadline
Penn is an Ivy League university known for undergraduate business, nursing, and engineering. The urban campus sits in Philadelphia's University City neighborhood.
- SAT Range 1510-1570
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.95
- Acceptance Rate 5%
- Net Price $23,570
Hamilton College
- Private 4 Year
- Clinton, NY
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- Jan 5 application deadline
Hamilton is a highly selective private liberal arts college known for undergraduate writing, economics, and government. The hilltop campus sits in the small village of Clinton in upstate New York.
- SAT Range 1450-1550
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.87
- Acceptance Rate 14%
- Net Price $28,719
Colgate University
- Private 4 Year
- Hamilton, NY
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- Jan 15 application deadline
Colgate is a highly selective private liberal arts college known for undergraduate economics, political science, and the sciences. The hillside campus overlooks the small college town of Hamilton in upstate New York.
- SAT Range 1430-1540
- Avg GPA 3.77
- Acceptance Rate 14%
- Net Price $28,736
Barnard College
- Private 4 Year
- New York, NY
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- Jan 4 application deadline
Barnard is a highly selective private women's liberal arts college known for undergraduate English, political science, and psychology. The urban Morningside Heights campus sits beside Columbia University, where students can cross-register for courses.
- SAT Range 1470-1560
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.85
- Acceptance Rate 9%
- Net Price $26,407
Swarthmore College
- Private 4 Year
- Swarthmore, PA
-
5.0 | 3 reviews
- Jan 4 application deadline
Swarthmore is a highly selective liberal arts college known for undergraduate engineering, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The suburban campus is a designated arboretum just outside Philadelphia.
- SAT Range 1490-1560
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.9
- Acceptance Rate 7%
- Net Price $22,469
Haverford College
- Private 4 Year
- Haverford, PA
-
5.0 | 7 reviews
- Jan 15 application deadline
Haverford is a highly selective liberal arts college known for undergraduate sciences, economics, and political science. Students live under a student-run honor code on a suburban campus near Philadelphia.
- SAT Range 1460-1550
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.9
- Acceptance Rate 12%
- Net Price $26,535
New York University
- Private 4 Year
- New York, NY
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
NYU is a highly selective private university known for undergraduate business, film, and the performing arts. The urban campus is centered in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.
- SAT Range 1480-1560
- Avg GPA 3.79
- Acceptance Rate 9%
- Net Price $30,325
Carnegie Mellon University
- Private 4 Year
- Pittsburgh, PA
-
| 0 reviews
- Jan 1 application deadline
Carnegie Mellon is a highly selective private university known for undergraduate computer science, engineering, and drama. The urban campus sits in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.
- SAT Range 1500-1570
- Avg GPA 3.89
- Acceptance Rate 12%
- Net Price $35,552
Vassar College
- Private 4 Year
- Poughkeepsie, NY
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- Jan 1 application deadline
Vassar is a highly selective private liberal arts college known for undergraduate English, art history, and the sciences. Most students live on the historic residential campus in New York's Hudson Valley.
- SAT Range 1450-1550
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.86
- Acceptance Rate 19%
- Net Price $29,981
Lehigh University
- Private 4 Year
- Bethlehem, PA
-
3.8 | 6 reviews
- Jan 1 application deadline
Lehigh is a private university known for undergraduate engineering and business. The hillside campus sits on South Mountain overlooking Bethlehem.
- SAT Range 1370-1500
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.81
- Acceptance Rate 26%
- Net Price $34,154
Skidmore College
- Private 4 Year
- Saratoga Springs, NY
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- Jan 15 application deadline
Skidmore is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate studio art, performing arts, and business. The residential campus sits in the historic spa town of Saratoga Springs.
- SAT Range 1340-1480
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.75
- Acceptance Rate 21%
- Net Price $31,187
Yeshiva University
- Private 4 Year
- New York, NY
-
| 0 reviews
- Feb 1 application deadline
Yeshiva is a private Jewish university known for combining Jewish studies with undergraduate business, sciences, and liberal arts. Men and women study on separate urban campuses in Manhattan.
- SAT Range 1340-1510
- Avg GPA 3.41
- Acceptance Rate 56%
- Net Price $39,681
University of Rochester
- Private 4 Year
- Rochester, NY
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- Jan 5 application deadline
Rochester is a highly selective private university known for undergraduate optics, music through the Eastman School, and engineering. Undergraduates follow a flexible curriculum built around interdisciplinary clusters rather than fixed general-education requirements.
- SAT Range 1410-1540
- Avg GPA 3.75
- Acceptance Rate 40%
- Net Price $40,462
Franklin and Marshall College
- Private 4 Year
- Lancaster, PA
-
3.8 | 6 reviews
- Jan 15 application deadline
Franklin and Marshall is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate government and the natural sciences. Most students live on a residential campus in the city of Lancaster.
- SAT Range 1310-1463
- Avg GPA NA
- Acceptance Rate 28%
- Net Price $43,987
Villanova University
- Private 4 Year
- Villanova, PA
-
5.0 | 4 reviews
- Jan 15 application deadline
Villanova is a highly selective private Catholic university known for undergraduate business, nursing, and engineering. The suburban campus sits on Philadelphia's Main Line.
- SAT Range 1395-1510
- Avg GPA 3.87
- Acceptance Rate 27%
- Net Price $37,201