These Are the 727 Best Colleges in America

College is a great investment—if you choose the right school. MONEY analyzed graduation rates, tuition charges, family borrowing, and alumni earnings (plus 22 other data points) to find the country’s top values. Find your fit with rankings that combine educational quality, affordability, and alumni success.

Published August 13, 2018. Read the full methodology here. Sources: U.S. Department of Education, Peterson's, PayScale.com, MONEY/College Measures calculations.

Rank
College Name

1
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ

2
University of California-San Diego
La Jolla, CA

3
University of California-Irvine
Irvine, CA

4
University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

5
Stanford University
Stanford, CA

6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA

7
University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

8
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College
New York, NY

9
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI

10
University of Virginia-Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA

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