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!