A college education is an investment in your future. Getting a degree will help you get more opportunities and better jobs than someone without one. But where should you go? There are 100 colleges in the United States that rank as some of the best schools in the country, so it’s important to do your research before choosing a school. We’ve compiled this list of top 100 colleges for students to consider when deciding which school they want to attend. We hope this helps!
Top 100 Colleges Ranking List Below
Every year, U.S News & World Reports publishes its list of the 100 best colleges in America. This is a great resource for students and parents who are trying to find their way through this college ranking system that has become so complicated over the years. The rankings are based on academic excellence as well as other factors like student satisfaction, post-graduation salary, etc. In order to rank these schools from top to bottom, we had to come up with a point system where each category was assigned a certain number of points depending on how important it was considered by our research team here at U.S News. So without further ado…here is your 2018 edition of the Top 100 Colleges Ranking List! Read More: Top 100 Universities in The United State 2021
| SL# | School Name | Graduation Rate1 | Default Rate2 | Mid-Career Salary3 | Net Price (4-year)4 | 20-year ROI5 |
| 1 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA |
98% | 0.80% | $146,800 | $68,120 | 16.38% |
| 2 | Princeton University
Princeton, NJ |
97% | 3.50% | $139,400 | $65,208 | 14.89% |
| 3 | Northwestern University
Evanston, IL |
97% | 1% | $102,000 | $114,668 | 10.51% |
| 4 | Tufts University
Medford, MA |
97% | 1.50% | $115,000 | $104,412 | 11.69% |
| 5 | Yale University
New Haven, CT |
96% | 0.60% | $120,000 | $77,268 | 14.11% |
| 6 | Brown University
Providence, RI |
96% | 0.50% | $113,000 | $84,772 | 13.17% |
| 7 | University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA |
96% | 1.10% | $120,000 | $90,776 | 13.13% |
| 8 | University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN |
96% | 0.60% | $111,000 | $108,100 | 11.57% |
| 9 | University of Rochester
Rochester, NY |
96% | 2% | $111,000 | $131,984 | 10.25% |
| 10 | Stanford University
Stanford, CA |
95% | 0.50% | $145,200 | $74,570 | 15.98% |
| 11 | Williams College
Williamstow, MA |
95% | 2.30% | $112,000 | $81,260 | 12.91% |
| 12 | Dartmouth College
Hanvover, NH |
95% | 1.70% | $111,000 | $85,108 | 12.74% |
| 13 | Columbia University
New York, NY |
95% | 1.70% | $109,000 | $83,352 | 13.11% |
| 14 | Duke University
Durham, IL |
95% | 0.60% | $122,000 | $87,056 | 13.57% |
| 15 | Georgetown University
Washington DC |
95% | 0.60% | $116,000 | $103,144 | 11.83% |
| 16 | Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO |
95% | 1.40% | $113,000 | $133,496 | 10.47% |
| 17 | Swarthmore College
Swarthmore, PA |
94% | 1.60% | $115,000 | $90,228 | 12.26% |
| 18 | Amherst College
Amherst, MA |
94% | 1.50% | $98,600 | $58,748 | 14.30% |
| 19 | Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT |
94% | 1.10% | $93,900 | $83,612 | 11.19% |
| 20 | University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA |
94% | 1.70% | $102,000 | $56,276 | 14.52% |
| 21 | Colorado College
Colorado Springs, CO |
94% | 0.90% | $85,100 | $96,564 | 9.02% |
| 22 | University Texas, Austin
Austin, TX |
94% | 3.60% | $97,200 | $67,328 | 12.83% |
| 23 | Pomona College
Claremont, CA |
93% | 0% | $105,000 | $76,820 | 12.46% |
| 24 | Cornell University
Ithaca, NY |
93% | 1% | $114,000 | $114,148 | 11.62% |
| 25 | Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT |
93% | 0.90% | $103,000 | $96,624 | 10.94% |
| 26 | University of Chicago
Chicago, IL |
93% | 1.40% | $107,000 | $137,408 | 9.43% |
| 27 | Davidson College
Davidson, NC |
93% | 1.30% | $90,600 | $89,828 | 10.45% |
| 28 | Carleton College
Northfield, MN |
93% | 0.40% | $107,000 | $128,068 | 9.32% |
| 29 | Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN |
93% | 1.40% | $102,000 | $88,692 | 12.01% |
| 30 | Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD |
93% | 1.50% | $107,000 | $100,828 | 11.87% |
| 31 | California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA |
92% | 2.50% | $125,000 | $107,640 | 13.07% |
| 32 | Colgate University
Hamilton, NY |
92% | 2.60% | $115,000 | $86,596 | 12.71% |
| 33 | College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA |
92% | 2.50% | $97,500 | $104,688 | 10.41% |
| 34 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA |
91% | 1.70% | $137,000 | $88,848 | 14.92% |
| 35 | Wellesley College
Wellesley, MA |
91% | 2.50% | $83,700 | $84,864 | 10.21% |
| 36 | Rice University
Houston, TX |
91% | 1.70% | $114,000 | $82,048 | 13.59% |
| 37 | University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA |
91% | 2.90% | $120,000 | $66,620 | 14.90% |
| 38 | Boston College
Boston, MA |
91% | 0.60% | $109,000 | $105,340 | 11.37% |
| 39 | University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA |
91% | 1.50% | $101,000 | $50,040 | 14.85% |
| 40 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI |
91% | 1.60% | $100,000 | $63,400 | 13.93% |
| 41 | Hamilton College
Clinton, NY |
91% | 2.10% | $94,600 | $89,568 | 11.25% |
| 42 | University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA |
91% | 1.20% | $99,500 | $124,756 | 9.63% |
| 43 | Brandeis University
Waltham, MA |
91% | 2.40% | $96,200 | $105,468 | 9.66% |
| 44 | Claremont McKenna College
Claremont, CA |
90% | 0% | $105,000 | $95,928 | 11.56% |
| 45 | College of William & Mary
Williamsburg, VA |
90% | 0.60% | $99,300 | $49,624 | 14.37% |
| 46 | Colby College
Waterville, ME |
90% | 0% | $95,100 | $73,908 | 11.85% |
| 47 | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC |
90% | 1.60% | $108,000 | $43,744 | 17.61% |
| 48 | Reed College
Portland, OR |
90% | 2.40% | $103,000 | $74,684 | 12.30% |
| 49 | Harvey Mudd College
Claremont, CA |
90% | 0% | $133,000 | $132,548 | 12.50% |
| 50 | Macalester College
St Paul, MN |
90% | 2.20% | $89,300 | $111,996 | 8.22% |
| 51 | Barnard College
New York, NY |
89% | 0.80% | $81,400 | $87,164 | 9.67% |
| 52 | Bucknell University
Lewisburg, PA |
89% | 1.10% | $107,000 | $132,508 | 10.18% |
| 53 | Kenyon College
Gambier, OH |
89% | 0.90% | $97,600 | $106,936 | 9.75% |
| 54 | Grinnell College
Grinnell, IA |
89% | 2% | $92,100 | $99,584 | 9.54% |
| 55 | Villanova University
Villanova, PA |
89% | 1.10% | $101,000 | $130,816 | 9.65% |
| 56 | Emory University
Atlanta, GA |
89% | 2.10% | $95,100 | $112,812 | 9.90% |
| 57 | Washington and Lee University
Lexington, VA |
88% | 1.70% | $120,000 | $82,800 | 13.31% |
| 58 | Oberlin College
Oberline, OH |
88% | 2.20% | $100,000 | $155,548 | 7.54% |
| 59 | Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA |
88% | 0.70% | $125,000 | $134,680 | 11.59% |
| 60 | Wake Forest University
Winston Salem, NC |
88% | 1.20% | $92,100 | $103,304 | 9.78% |
| 61 | Bates College
Lewiston, ME |
88% | 0.60% | $95,000 | $88,248 | 10.37% |
| 62 | University of Florida
Gainesville, FL |
88% | 3% | $86,300 | $59,144 | 12.42% |
| 63 | Whitman College
Walla Walla, WA |
87% | 2% | $101,000 | $135,152 | 8.44% |
| 64 | Franklin and Marshall College
Lancaster, PA |
87% | 1.80% | $106,000 | $91,896 | 11.28% |
| 65 | Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA |
87% | 1.10% | $108,000 | $111,392 | 11.32% |
| 66 | Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY |
87% | 2.30% | $97,600 | $97,264 | 10.03% |
| 67 | Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA |
85% | 2.20% | $117,000 | $146,580 | 10.27% |
| 68 | Boston University
Boston, MA |
85% | 1.80% | $93,900 | $130,156 | 8.86% |
| 69 | University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD |
85% | 2% | $94,400 | $59,332 | 13.55% |
| 70 | Occidental College
Los Angeles, CA |
85% | 2.80% | $112,000 | $130,984 | 9.71% |
| 71 | University of Georgia
Athens, GA |
85% | 2.90% | $83,600 | $53,148 | 12.45% |
| 72 | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL |
84% | 2.10% | $102,000 | $64,996 | 13.80% |
| 73 | University of Wisconsin, Madison
Madison, WI |
84% | 1.50% | $91,400 | $64,524 | 12.49% |
| 74 | University of Washington
Seattle, WA |
84% | 2.70% | $92,600 | $41,496 | 15.35% |
| 75 | Trinity College
Hartford, CT |
84% | 1.60% | $86,500 | $100,480 | 9.53% |
| 76 | Dickinson College
Carlisle, PA |
84% | 3% | $94,900 | $133,828 | 8.59% |
| 77 | University of Richmond
Richmond, VA |
84% | 1.50% | $93,200 | $96,044 | 10.23% |
| 78 | Gettysburg College
Gettysburg, PA |
84% | 2% | $100,000 | $133,372 | 8.98% |
| 79 | New York University
New York, NY |
83% | 2% | $99,000 | $142,172 | 8.76% |
| 80 | Connecticut College
New London, CT |
83% | 1.40% | $88,700 | $96,608 | 9.61% |
| 81 | University of California-Davis
Davis, CA |
83% | 2.70% | $94,600 | $64,924 | 12.74% |
| 82 | Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA |
82% | 1.70% | $112,000 | $48,748 | 16.39% |
| 83 | Centre College
Danville, KY |
82% | 1.50% | $86,700 | $99,420 | 8.53% |
| 84 | Denison University
Granville, OH |
82% | 1.30% | $88,500 | $117,648 | 8.57% |
| 85 | Northeastern University
Boston, MA |
82% | 2.80% | $91,900 | $122,184 | 9.44% |
| 86 | Trinity University
San Antonio, TX |
81% | 2.10% | $93,400 | $111,404 | 9.00% |
| 87 | University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA |
81% | 4% | $100,000 | $59,864 | 13.56% |
| 88 | Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH |
81% | 1.20% | $103,000 | $116,560 | 10.63% |
| 89 | Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA |
80% | 1.30% | $79,400 | $109,592 | 7.91% |
| 90 | Rhodes College
Memphis, TN |
80% | 4% | $90,700 | $114,460 | 8.54% |
| 91 | St. John’s University
Collegeville, MN |
80% | 0.20% | $134,000 | $97,332 | 13.55% |
| 92 | Saint Olaf College
Northfield, MN |
80% | 0.50% | $89,400 | $112,076 | 8.74% |
| 93 | Lafayette College
Easton, PA |
79% | 2.40% | $102,000 | $108,076 | 11.02% |
| 94 | Sewanee-University of the South
Sewanee, TN |
79% | 1.30% | $74,000 | $101,656 | 6.68% |
| 95 | Brigham Young University
Provo, UT |
79% | 1.20% | $97,900 | $49,336 | 14.79% |
| 96 | Wofford College
Spartanburg, SC |
78% | 2.30% | $89,000 | $98,924 | 9.48% |
| 97 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN |
78% | 2.60% | $87,200 | $62,356 | 12.25% |
| 98 | Indiana University-Bloomington
Bloomington, IN |
78% | 3.90% | $83,100 | $46,292 | 13.18% |
| 99 | Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX |
77% | 3.30% | $93,500 | $136,756 | 8.59% |
| 100 | Colorado School of the Mines
Golden, CO |
76% | 0.80% | $109,000 | $100,552 | 12.27% |
Conclusion
The 2020 rankings are based on a variety of factors, including academics and affordability. It’s important to consider all aspects when choosing which college you want to attend for your education. Here is the list of top colleges in the United States ranked from one hundred to one!