This page compares the acceptance rate, SAT scores, and tuition & fees between Top 100 Colleges selected by Niche. Massachusetts Institute of Technology rank first and Yale University is positioned in second place in the Top 100 Colleges by Niche.
Academic Comparison Between Top 100 Colleges by Niche
There are 38 public and 62 private schools in the Top 100 Colleges Niche.
For the academic year 2026, the average acceptance rate of the schools is 25.37% where California Institute of Technology has the tightest (lowest) rate of 2.57% and University of Iowa has the highest rate of 83.62%. The average SAT score of the schools is 1,449 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology has the highest SAT score with 1,560.
Total 2,393,285 students including both undergraduate and graduate students are attending one of the schools. Texas A & M University-College Station is the largest with 76,633 students and Harvey Mudd College is the smallest with 949 students. The average graduation rate is 88.94% and the average students to faculty ratio is 11.89 to 1.
The following table compares the Top 100 Colleges by Niche with admission rate, SAT score, and other academic facts.
| Rank | Name | Acceptance Rate | SAT Score | Graduation Rate | Population | Student-Faculty Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA | 4.55% | 1,560 | 96% | 11,920 | 3 to 1 |
| 2 | Yale University New Haven, CT | 3.87% | 1,540 | 96% | 15,081 | 6 to 1 |
| 3 | Stanford University Stanford, CA | 3.61% | 1,550 | 92% | 18,446 | 6 to 1 |
| 4 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA | 3.65% | 1,550 | 98% | 30,386 | 7 to 1 |
| 5 | Dartmouth College Hanover, NH | 5.40% | 1,540 | 96% | 6,746 | 7 to 1 |
| 6 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY | 3.99% | 1,550 | 96% | 35,279 | 6 to 1 |
| 7 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN | 5.86% | 1,540 | 94% | 13,456 | 7 to 1 |
| 8 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ | 4.62% | 1,550 | 98% | 8,922 | 5 to 1 |
| 9 | California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA | 2.57% | - | 94% | 2,463 | 3 to 1 |
| 10 | Rice University Houston, TX | 8.00% | 1,550 | 95% | 8,556 | 6 to 1 |
| 11 | Brown University Providence, RI | 5.39% | 1,540 | 96% | 11,516 | 6 to 1 |
| 12 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA | 5.40% | 1,550 | 97% | 28,711 | 8 to 1 |
| 13 | Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO | 12.06% | 1,540 | 94% | 16,500 | 7 to 1 |
| 14 | Duke University Durham, NC | 5.71% | 1,540 | 97% | 17,112 | 6 to 1 |
| 15 | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA | 11.66% | 1,540 | 94% | 15,596 | 5 to 1 |
| 16 | Harvey Mudd College Claremont, CA | 12.66% | 1,540 | 92% | 949 | 8 to 1 |
| 17 | Georgetown University Washington, DC | 12.91% | 1,490 | 95% | 20,392 | 11 to 1 |
| 18 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL | 4.48% | 1,550 | 96% | 18,339 | 5 to 1 |
| 19 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI | 15.64% | 1,460 | 93% | 52,065 | 11 to 1 |
| 20 | University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA | 8.97% | - | 93% | 46,678 | 18 to 1 |
| 21 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY | 8.76% | 1,540 | 95% | 26,264 | 9 to 1 |
| 22 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL | 7.69% | 1,540 | 95% | 23,203 | 6 to 1 |
| 23 | Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA | 9.59% | 1,530 | 91% | 1,384 | 8 to 1 |
| 24 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD | 6.44% | 1,550 | 94% | 30,362 | 6 to 1 |
| 25 | University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN | 11.27% | 1,520 | 95% | 13,174 | 9 to 1 |
| 26 | Pomona College Claremont, CA | 7.09% | 1,540 | 93% | 1,664 | 7 to 1 |
| 27 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA | 9.81% | 1,500 | 92% | 47,147 | 9 to 1 |
| 28 | University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA | 16.81% | 1,480 | 96% | 25,924 | 15 to 1 |
| 29 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA | 14.07% | 1,480 | 94% | 47,946 | 18 to 1 |
| 30 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL | 24.20% | 1,400 | 91% | 54,814 | 16 to 1 |
| 31 | Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA | 13.97% | 1,480 | 94% | 2,277 | 8 to 1 |
| 32 | Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME | 7.13% | 1,520 | 95% | 1,850 | 9 to 1 |
| 33 | Emory University Atlanta, GA | 10.65% | 1,520 | 91% | 15,046 | 9 to 1 |
| 34 | New York University New York, NY | 9.23% | 1,520 | 88% | 57,335 | 8 to 1 |
| 35 | Davidson College Davidson, NC | 13.37% | 1,460 | 91% | 1,904 | 9 to 1 |
| 36 | Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA | 7.46% | 1,540 | 92% | 1,644 | 8 to 1 |
| 37 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC | 15.34% | 1,480 | 91% | 32,234 | 15 to 1 |
| 38 | Boston University Boston, MA | 11.11% | 1,480 | 89% | 36,624 | 10 to 1 |
| 39 | Northeastern University Boston, MA | 5.22% | 1,490 | 91% | 31,159 | 16 to 1 |
| 40 | Williams College Williamstown, MA | 8.25% | 1,540 | 94% | 2,168 | 6 to 1 |
| 41 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX | 26.64% | 1,390 | 89% | 53,082 | 18 to 1 |
| 42 | Barnard College New York, NY | 8.84% | 1,520 | 93% | 3,353 | 10 to 1 |
| 43 | Middlebury College Middlebury, VT | 10.75% | 1,500 | 91% | 2,857 | 9 to 1 |
| 44 | Amherst College Amherst, MA | 9.01% | 1,540 | 94% | 1,910 | 7 to 1 |
| 45 | Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA | 16.43% | 1,500 | 91% | 15,280 | 13 to 1 |
| 46 | Tufts University Medford, MA | 11.49% | 1,510 | 94% | 13,274 | 10 to 1 |
| 47 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL | 42.37% | 1,440 | 85% | 56,563 | 20 to 1 |
| 48 | University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA | 10.98% | - | 93% | 45,699 | 18 to 1 |
| 49 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL | 18.90% | 1,400 | 84% | 19,593 | 11 to 1 |
| 50 | University of Georgia Athens, GA | 37.70% | 1,370 | 90% | 41,615 | 17 to 1 |
| 51 | Florida State University Tallahassee, FL | 24.22% | 1,350 | 86% | 43,234 | 17 to 1 |
| 52 | Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC | 21.67% | 1,470 | 89% | 9,121 | 9 to 1 |
| 53 | University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI | 45.20% | 1,460 | 90% | 49,605 | 18 to 1 |
| 54 | Hamilton College Clinton, NY | 13.62% | 1,500 | 91% | 2,048 | 9 to 1 |
| 55 | University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA | 26.71% | - | 86% | 42,376 | 19 to 1 |
| 56 | Wesleyan University Middletown, CT | 16.49% | 1,490 | 93% | 3,271 | 7 to 1 |
| 57 | Wellesley College Wellesley, MA | 14.05% | 1,520 | 92% | 2,418 | 7 to 1 |
| 58 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA | 54.78% | 1,360 | 86% | 38,294 | 17 to 1 |
| 59 | Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX | 57.43% | 1,270 | 84% | 76,633 | 19 to 1 |
| 60 | Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA | 25.93% | 1,440 | 88% | 7,590 | 10 to 1 |
| 61 | Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH | 60.57% | 1,400 | 88% | 60,046 | 18 to 1 |
| 62 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA | 39.15% | - | 85% | 55,620 | 20 to 1 |
| 63 | University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA | 28.57% | - | 87% | 36,582 | 18 to 1 |
| 64 | Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA | 13.98% | 1,465 | 86% | 13,078 | 8 to 1 |
| 65 | Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN | 49.87% | 1,350 | 83% | 52,905 | 14 to 1 |
| 66 | Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY | 18.57% | 1,500 | 91% | 2,456 | 8 to 1 |
| 67 | University of California-Davis Davis, CA | 41.83% | - | 86% | 39,707 | 21 to 1 |
| 68 | Villanova University Villanova, PA | 26.98% | 1,450 | 92% | 10,111 | 10 to 1 |
| 69 | Haverford College Haverford, PA | 12.37% | 1,510 | 90% | 1,424 | 8 to 1 |
| 70 | Florida International University Miami, FL | 54.66% | 1,160 | 74% | 53,953 | 24 to 1 |
| 71 | University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD | 44.79% | 1,465 | 89% | 40,813 | 18 to 1 |
| 72 | Bates College Lewiston, ME | 13.32% | 1,465 | 90% | 1,753 | 10 to 1 |
| 73 | William & Mary Williamsburg, VA | 34.07% | 1,470 | 89% | 9,762 | 13 to 1 |
| 74 | University of South Florida Tampa, FL | 43.19% | 1,220 | 77% | 48,572 | 22 to 1 |
| 75 | University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA | 22.20% | 1,480 | 85% | 3,776 | 7 to 1 |
| 76 | Trinity University San Antonio, TX | 25.92% | 1,405 | 84% | 2,694 | 9 to 1 |
| 77 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA | 60.56% | 1,330 | 86% | 50,399 | 15 to 1 |
| 78 | The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art New York, NY | 20.71% | 1,410 | 81% | 983 | 9 to 1 |
| 79 | University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA | 32.97% | - | 83% | 26,068 | 17 to 1 |
| 80 | Clemson University Clemson, SC | 38.34% | 1,320 | 87% | 28,747 | 16 to 1 |
| 81 | Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX | 44.49% | 1,250 | 86% | 12,785 | 14 to 1 |
| 82 | Brigham Young University Provo, UT | 67.78% | 1,360 | 81% | 35,074 | 21 to 1 |
| 83 | Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH | 36.54% | 1,510 | 87% | 12,266 | 9 to 1 |
| 84 | Colgate University Hamilton, NY | 13.88% | 1,500 | 91% | 3,146 | 9 to 1 |
| 85 | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Socorro, NM | 44.49% | 1,205 | 57% | 1,713 | 10 to 1 |
| 86 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC | 41.74% | 1,370 | 85% | 37,323 | 15 to 1 |
| 87 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA | 58.08% | 1,360 | 85% | 34,525 | 13 to 1 |
| 88 | Auburn University Auburn, AL | 45.92% | 1,320 | 82% | 33,015 | 21 to 1 |
| 89 | Colby College Waterville, ME | 7.09% | 1,510 | 89% | 2,284 | 9 to 1 |
| 90 | University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK | 76.60% | 1,238 | 75% | 29,145 | 17 to 1 |
| 91 | University of Central Florida Orlando, FL | 40.11% | 1,260 | 78% | 69,233 | 29 to 1 |
| 92 | Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX | 63.35% | 1,420 | 84% | 11,842 | 11 to 1 |
| 93 | Babson College Wellesley, MA | 17.09% | 1,460 | 93% | 3,943 | 16 to 1 |
| 94 | Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN | 78.21% | 1,290 | 80% | 47,527 | 18 to 1 |
| 95 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN | 79.75% | 1,410 | 85% | 54,890 | 16 to 1 |
| 96 | Carleton College Northfield, MN | 20.41% | 1,515 | 90% | 2,069 | 8 to 1 |
| 97 | University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC | 60.15% | 1,270 | 79% | 36,579 | 18 to 1 |
| 98 | Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK | 75.04% | 1,150 | 68% | 26,043 | 18 to 1 |
| 99 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA | 48.00% | 1,420 | 88% | 9,340 | 10 to 1 |
| 100 | University of Iowa Iowa City, IA | 83.62% | 1,230 | 75% | 30,042 | 15 to 1 |
| Average | 25.37% | 1,449 | 88.94% | 2,393,285 (Total) | 11.89 to 1 |
Top 100 Colleges Top 100 Colleges by Niche 2025 Tuition and 2026 Estimation
The following table and chart compare the 2025 tuition & fees between the Top 100 Colleges by Top 100 Colleges by Niche and estimate 2026 costs. The 2024-2025 costs are officially published by IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education. The estimated costs for year 2025-2026 are calculated and estimated based on each school's tuition change for last 2 years.
For the undergraduate programs, the average tuition & fees of the top schools $55,129 where University of Southern California is the most expensive with $71,647 and Brigham Young University has the cheapest tuition & fess of $6,688. The average graduate program tuition & fees is $42,953 where Claremont McKenna College has the highest amount of tuition & fees of $72,294 and Brigham Young University has the lowest amount of $8,416.
| Rank | School Name | 2025 Tuition & Fees | 2026 Estimated Tuition & Fees | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-State | Out-of-State | In-State | Out-of-State | ||
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | $62,396 | $64,719 | ||
| 2 | Yale University | $67,250 | $69,901 | ||
| 3 | Stanford University | $65,910 | $69,524 | ||
| 4 | Harvard University | $61,676 | $64,390 | ||
| 5 | Dartmouth College | $68,019 | $70,623 | ||
| 6 | Columbia University in the City of New York | $70,517 | $72,944 | ||
| 7 | Vanderbilt University | $67,498 | $71,247 | ||
| 8 | Princeton University | $62,688 | $65,815 | ||
| 9 | California Institute of Technology | $65,898 | $68,651 | ||
| 10 | Rice University | $61,247 | $64,533 | ||
| 11 | Brown University | $71,312 | $74,533 | ||
| 12 | University of Pennsylvania | $68,686 | $71,369 | ||
| 13 | Washington University in St Louis | $65,790 | $68,723 | ||
| 14 | Duke University | $68,758 | $71,844 | ||
| 15 | Carnegie Mellon University | $65,636 | $68,086 | ||
| 16 | Harvey Mudd College | $68,613 | $71,055 | ||
| 17 | Georgetown University | $68,089 | $71,236 | ||
| 18 | University of Chicago | $69,324 | $73,238 | ||
| 19 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | $18,848 | $63,081 | $19,403 | $66,202 |
| 20 | University of California-Los Angeles | $14,233 | $46,121 | $14,736 | $47,775 |
| 21 | Cornell University | $69,314 | $72,779 | ||
| 22 | Northwestern University | $68,322 | $70,729 | ||
| 23 | Claremont McKenna College | $67,980 | $72,039 | ||
| 24 | Johns Hopkins University | $64,730 | $66,677 | ||
| 25 | University of Notre Dame | $65,025 | $67,444 | ||
| 26 | Pomona College | $65,420 | $68,668 | ||
| 27 | University of Southern California | $71,647 | $75,227 | ||
| 28 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | $23,118 | $61,591 | $23,941 | $63,613 |
| 29 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | $12,058 | $34,484 | $12,359 | $36,171 |
| 30 | University of Florida | $6,381 | $28,659 | $6,381 | $28,659 |
| 31 | Washington and Lee University | $68,045 | $71,757 | ||
| 32 | Bowdoin College | $67,832 | $70,886 | ||
| 33 | Emory University | $64,280 | $67,988 | ||
| 34 | New York University | $62,796 | $65,246 | ||
| 35 | Davidson College | $64,430 | $69,129 | ||
| 36 | Swarthmore College | $65,494 | $68,728 | ||
| 37 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | $8,994 | $41,203 | $8,999 | $43,165 |
| 38 | Boston University | $68,102 | $71,168 | ||
| 39 | Northeastern University | $66,162 | $69,328 | ||
| 40 | Williams College | $68,560 | $72,471 | ||
| 41 | The University of Texas at Austin | $11,688 | $44,908 | $11,698 | $47,144 |
| 42 | Barnard College | $69,888 | $73,730 | ||
| 43 | Middlebury College | $67,600 | $70,002 | ||
| 44 | Amherst College | $70,480 | $73,832 | ||
| 45 | Boston College | $70,702 | $73,859 | ||
| 46 | Tufts University | $70,704 | $73,685 | ||
| 47 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | $18,267 | $40,096 | $18,476 | $41,021 |
| 48 | University of California-Berkeley | $15,377 | $47,265 | $15,923 | $48,962 |
| 49 | University of Miami | $62,616 | $65,427 | ||
| 50 | University of Georgia | $11,450 | $31,688 | $11,727 | $33,227 |
| 51 | Florida State University | $6,517 | $21,683 | $6,517 | $21,683 |
| 52 | Wake Forest University | $67,642 | $70,654 | ||
| 53 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | $11,603 | $42,103 | $12,015 | $43,658 |
| 54 | Hamilton College | $68,960 | $75,797 | ||
| 55 | University of California-San Diego | $15,788 | $47,676 | $16,329 | $49,368 |
| 56 | Wesleyan University | $70,042 | $73,205 | ||
| 57 | Wellesley College | $67,176 | $70,159 | ||
| 58 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | $15,948 | $37,764 | $16,432 | $38,865 |
| 59 | Texas A & M University-College Station | $12,995 | $40,124 | $13,151 | $39,921 |
| 60 | Lehigh University | $64,980 | $67,906 | ||
| 61 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | $13,244 | $40,022 | $13,641 | $41,751 |
| 62 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | $12,973 | $43,209 | $13,312 | $44,456 |
| 63 | University of California-Irvine | $14,752 | $46,640 | $15,286 | $48,325 |
| 64 | Tulane University of Louisiana | $68,678 | $71,968 | ||
| 65 | Purdue University-Main Campus | $9,992 | $28,794 | $9,992 | $28,794 |
| 66 | Vassar College | $71,030 | $74,408 | ||
| 67 | University of California-Davis | $15,804 | $47,692 | $16,381 | $49,420 |
| 68 | Villanova University | $67,776 | $70,997 | ||
| 69 | Haverford College | $70,398 | $72,859 | ||
| 70 | Florida International University | $6,565 | $18,964 | $6,565 | $18,964 |
| 71 | University of Maryland-College Park | $11,809 | $41,186 | $12,121 | $42,085 |
| 72 | Bates College | $66,590 | $69,855 | ||
| 73 | William & Mary | $25,734 | $51,038 | $26,446 | $52,718 |
| 74 | University of South Florida | $6,410 | $17,324 | $6,410 | $17,324 |
| 75 | University of Richmond | $65,230 | $67,970 | ||
| 76 | Trinity University | $53,676 | $56,105 | ||
| 77 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | $20,644 | $41,790 | $21,062 | $43,456 |
| 78 | The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art | $46,820 | $46,820 | ||
| 79 | University of California-Santa Barbara | $15,444 | $47,332 | $15,938 | $48,977 |
| 80 | Clemson University | $15,554 | $40,866 | $15,554 | $42,281 |
| 81 | Texas Christian University | $61,740 | $66,617 | ||
| 82 | Brigham Young University | $6,688 | $6,886 | ||
| 83 | Case Western Reserve University | $66,608 | $68,596 | ||
| 84 | Colgate University | $70,306 | $73,749 | ||
| 85 | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | $9,476 | $27,247 | $9,913 | $28,215 |
| 86 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | $8,799 | $32,847 | $8,704 | $33,964 |
| 87 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | $21,926 | $41,430 | $22,336 | $43,029 |
| 88 | Auburn University | $12,890 | $34,922 | $13,254 | $35,928 |
| 89 | Colby College | $69,600 | $72,735 | ||
| 90 | University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus | $9,797 | $27,377 | $10,003 | $28,108 |
| 91 | University of Central Florida | $6,368 | $22,467 | $6,368 | $22,467 |
| 92 | Southern Methodist University | $67,040 | $69,723 | ||
| 93 | Babson College | $57,152 | $58,294 | ||
| 94 | Indiana University-Bloomington | $12,144 | $41,891 | $12,509 | $43,349 |
| 95 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | $17,214 | $38,362 | $17,972 | $40,428 |
| 96 | Carleton College | $68,892 | $72,507 | ||
| 97 | University of South Carolina-Columbia | $12,688 | $36,298 | $12,688 | $37,706 |
| 98 | Oklahoma State University-Main Campus | $10,110 | $25,630 | $10,110 | $25,630 |
| 99 | Santa Clara University | $61,293 | $63,416 | ||
| 100 | University of Iowa | $11,283 | $33,371 | $11,611 | $33,821 |
| Average | $13,286 | $55,129 | $13,586 | $57,451 | |
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