This page compares the acceptance rate, SAT scores, and tuition & fees between Top 100 Colleges selected by Forbes. Massachusetts Institute of Technology rank first and Columbia University in the City of New York is positioned in second place in the Top 100 Colleges by Forbes.
Academic Comparison Between Top 100 Colleges by Forbes
There are 40 public and 60 private schools in the Top 100 Colleges Forbes.
For the academic year 2026, the average acceptance rate of the schools is 26.52% where California Institute of Technology has the tightest (lowest) rate of 2.57% and University of Utah has the highest rate of 85.98%. The average SAT score of the schools is 1,461 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology has the highest SAT score with 1,560.
Total 2,362,583 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 88.63% and the average students to faculty ratio is 12.06 to 1.
The following table compares the Top 100 Colleges by Forbes 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 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY | 3.99% | 1,550 | 96% | 35,279 | 6 to 1 |
| 3 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ | 4.62% | 1,550 | 98% | 8,922 | 5 to 1 |
| 4 | Stanford University Stanford, CA | 3.61% | 1,550 | 92% | 18,446 | 6 to 1 |
| 5 | University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA | 10.98% | - | 93% | 45,699 | 18 to 1 |
| 6 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA | 3.65% | 1,550 | 98% | 30,386 | 7 to 1 |
| 7 | Williams College Williamstown, MA | 8.25% | 1,540 | 94% | 2,168 | 6 to 1 |
| 8 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD | 6.44% | 1,550 | 94% | 30,362 | 6 to 1 |
| 9 | Yale University New Haven, CT | 3.87% | 1,540 | 96% | 15,081 | 6 to 1 |
| 10 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA | 5.40% | 1,550 | 97% | 28,711 | 8 to 1 |
| 11 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN | 5.86% | 1,540 | 94% | 13,456 | 7 to 1 |
| 12 | Rice University Houston, TX | 8.00% | 1,550 | 95% | 8,556 | 6 to 1 |
| 13 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL | 4.48% | 1,550 | 96% | 18,339 | 5 to 1 |
| 14 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY | 8.76% | 1,540 | 95% | 26,264 | 9 to 1 |
| 15 | University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA | 8.97% | - | 93% | 46,678 | 18 to 1 |
| 16 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL | 7.69% | 1,540 | 95% | 23,203 | 6 to 1 |
| 17 | Dartmouth College Hanover, NH | 5.40% | 1,540 | 96% | 6,746 | 7 to 1 |
| 18 | Brown University Providence, RI | 5.39% | 1,540 | 96% | 11,516 | 6 to 1 |
| 19 | Amherst College Amherst, MA | 9.01% | 1,540 | 94% | 1,910 | 7 to 1 |
| 20 | University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA | 26.71% | - | 86% | 42,376 | 19 to 1 |
| 21 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI | 15.64% | 1,460 | 93% | 52,065 | 11 to 1 |
| 22 | Duke University Durham, NC | 5.71% | 1,540 | 97% | 17,112 | 6 to 1 |
| 23 | Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA | 7.46% | 1,540 | 92% | 1,644 | 8 to 1 |
| 24 | California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA | 2.57% | - | 94% | 2,463 | 3 to 1 |
| 25 | Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO | 12.06% | 1,540 | 94% | 16,500 | 7 to 1 |
| 26 | Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA | 9.59% | 1,530 | 91% | 1,384 | 8 to 1 |
| 27 | Emory University Atlanta, GA | 10.65% | 1,520 | 91% | 15,046 | 9 to 1 |
| 28 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA | 9.81% | 1,500 | 92% | 47,147 | 9 to 1 |
| 29 | Wellesley College Wellesley, MA | 14.05% | 1,520 | 92% | 2,418 | 7 to 1 |
| 30 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL | 24.20% | 1,400 | 91% | 54,814 | 16 to 1 |
| 31 | University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA | 28.57% | - | 87% | 36,582 | 18 to 1 |
| 32 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA | 14.07% | 1,480 | 94% | 47,946 | 18 to 1 |
| 33 | University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN | 11.27% | 1,520 | 95% | 13,174 | 9 to 1 |
| 34 | University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA | 16.81% | 1,480 | 96% | 25,924 | 15 to 1 |
| 35 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC | 15.34% | 1,480 | 91% | 32,234 | 15 to 1 |
| 36 | Pomona College Claremont, CA | 7.09% | 1,540 | 93% | 1,664 | 7 to 1 |
| 37 | University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD | 44.79% | 1,465 | 89% | 40,813 | 18 to 1 |
| 38 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL | 42.37% | 1,440 | 85% | 56,563 | 20 to 1 |
| 39 | Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME | 7.13% | 1,520 | 95% | 1,850 | 9 to 1 |
| 40 | Brigham Young University Provo, UT | 67.78% | 1,360 | 81% | 35,074 | 21 to 1 |
| 41 | Georgetown University Washington, DC | 12.91% | 1,490 | 95% | 20,392 | 11 to 1 |
| 42 | University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA | 32.97% | - | 83% | 26,068 | 17 to 1 |
| 43 | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA | 11.66% | 1,540 | 94% | 15,596 | 5 to 1 |
| 44 | University of California-Davis Davis, CA | 41.83% | - | 86% | 39,707 | 21 to 1 |
| 45 | Boston University Boston, MA | 11.11% | 1,480 | 89% | 36,624 | 10 to 1 |
| 46 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX | 26.64% | 1,390 | 89% | 53,082 | 18 to 1 |
| 47 | Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA | 13.97% | 1,480 | 94% | 2,277 | 8 to 1 |
| 48 | Colgate University Hamilton, NY | 13.88% | 1,500 | 91% | 3,146 | 9 to 1 |
| 49 | New York University New York, NY | 9.23% | 1,520 | 88% | 57,335 | 8 to 1 |
| 50 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA | 39.15% | - | 85% | 55,620 | 20 to 1 |
| 51 | Wesleyan University Middletown, CT | 16.49% | 1,490 | 93% | 3,271 | 7 to 1 |
| 52 | Middlebury College Middlebury, VT | 10.75% | 1,500 | 91% | 2,857 | 9 to 1 |
| 53 | University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI | 45.20% | 1,460 | 90% | 49,605 | 18 to 1 |
| 54 | Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA | 16.43% | 1,500 | 91% | 15,280 | 13 to 1 |
| 55 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA | 31.32% | - | 86% | 22,485 | 18 to 1 |
| 56 | Haverford College Haverford, PA | 12.37% | 1,510 | 90% | 1,424 | 8 to 1 |
| 57 | University of Georgia Athens, GA | 37.70% | 1,370 | 90% | 41,615 | 17 to 1 |
| 58 | Tufts University Medford, MA | 11.49% | 1,510 | 94% | 13,274 | 10 to 1 |
| 59 | Davidson College Davidson, NC | 13.37% | 1,460 | 91% | 1,904 | 9 to 1 |
| 60 | William & Mary Williamsburg, VA | 34.07% | 1,470 | 89% | 9,762 | 13 to 1 |
| 61 | Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX | 57.43% | 1,270 | 84% | 76,633 | 19 to 1 |
| 62 | Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN | 49.87% | 1,350 | 83% | 52,905 | 14 to 1 |
| 63 | University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA | 65.79% | - | 75% | 19,764 | 22 to 1 |
| 64 | Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA | 25.93% | 1,440 | 88% | 7,590 | 10 to 1 |
| 65 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA | 48.00% | 1,420 | 88% | 9,340 | 10 to 1 |
| 66 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC | 41.74% | 1,370 | 85% | 37,323 | 15 to 1 |
| 67 | George Washington University Washington, DC | 47.09% | 1,430 | 84% | 25,568 | 12 to 1 |
| 68 | Binghamton University Vestal, NY | 38.61% | 1,410 | 82% | 18,456 | 18 to 1 |
| 69 | University of Rochester Rochester, NY | 40.08% | 1,490 | 85% | 12,160 | 9 to 1 |
| 70 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ | 58.15% | 1,410 | 84% | 50,617 | 15 to 1 |
| 71 | Colby College Waterville, ME | 7.09% | 1,510 | 89% | 2,284 | 9 to 1 |
| 72 | Florida State University Tallahassee, FL | 24.22% | 1,350 | 86% | 43,234 | 17 to 1 |
| 73 | Hamilton College Clinton, NY | 13.62% | 1,500 | 91% | 2,048 | 9 to 1 |
| 74 | College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA | 17.61% | 1,340 | 87% | 3,035 | 9 to 1 |
| 75 | Villanova University Villanova, PA | 26.98% | 1,450 | 92% | 10,111 | 10 to 1 |
| 76 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL | 18.90% | 1,400 | 84% | 19,593 | 11 to 1 |
| 77 | University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA | 76.39% | - | 76% | 26,426 | 23 to 1 |
| 78 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN | 79.75% | 1,410 | 85% | 54,890 | 16 to 1 |
| 79 | Michigan State University East Lansing, MI | 84.80% | 1,260 | 81% | 51,316 | 17 to 1 |
| 80 | Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY | 49.04% | 1,420 | 76% | 25,865 | 19 to 1 |
| 81 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA | 54.78% | 1,360 | 86% | 38,294 | 17 to 1 |
| 82 | Trinity University San Antonio, TX | 25.92% | 1,405 | 84% | 2,694 | 9 to 1 |
| 83 | Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH | 60.57% | 1,400 | 88% | 60,046 | 18 to 1 |
| 84 | Harvey Mudd College Claremont, CA | 12.66% | 1,540 | 92% | 949 | 8 to 1 |
| 85 | Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA | 28.93% | 1,400 | 86% | 3,892 | 9 to 1 |
| 86 | Clemson University Clemson, SC | 38.34% | 1,320 | 87% | 28,747 | 16 to 1 |
| 87 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA | 36.19% | - | 76% | 39,241 | 22 to 1 |
| 88 | Trinity College Hartford, CT | 29.25% | 1,405 | 84% | 2,276 | 9 to 1 |
| 89 | Smith College Northampton, MA | 21.00% | 1,490 | 89% | 2,830 | 8 to 1 |
| 90 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY | 47.52% | 1,280 | 72% | 19,698 | 19 to 1 |
| 91 | Lafayette College Easton, PA | 31.45% | 1,430 | 88% | 2,764 | 10 to 1 |
| 92 | University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA | 22.20% | 1,480 | 85% | 3,776 | 7 to 1 |
| 93 | University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO | 78.08% | 1,340 | 74% | 41,432 | 19 to 1 |
| 94 | Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN | 78.21% | 1,290 | 80% | 47,527 | 18 to 1 |
| 95 | Babson College Wellesley, MA | 17.09% | 1,460 | 93% | 3,943 | 16 to 1 |
| 96 | University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK | 76.60% | 1,238 | 75% | 29,145 | 17 to 1 |
| 97 | California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA | 46.27% | - | 69% | 40,278 | 19 to 1 |
| 98 | Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC | 21.67% | 1,470 | 89% | 9,121 | 9 to 1 |
| 99 | University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT | 85.98% | 1,285 | 65% | 35,260 | 18 to 1 |
| 100 | Bates College Lewiston, ME | 13.32% | 1,465 | 90% | 1,753 | 10 to 1 |
| Average | 26.52% | 1,461 | 88.63% | 2,362,583 (Total) | 12.06 to 1 |
Top 100 Colleges the best top 100 colleges by forbes colleges 2025 Tuition and 2026 Estimation
The following table and chart compare the 2025 tuition & fees between the Top 100 Colleges by the best top 100 colleges by forbes colleges 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 $54,970 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 $41,769 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 | Columbia University in the City of New York | $70,517 | $72,944 | ||
| 3 | Princeton University | $62,688 | $65,815 | ||
| 4 | Stanford University | $65,910 | $69,524 | ||
| 5 | University of California-Berkeley | $15,377 | $47,265 | $15,923 | $48,962 |
| 6 | Harvard University | $61,676 | $64,390 | ||
| 7 | Williams College | $68,560 | $72,471 | ||
| 8 | Johns Hopkins University | $64,730 | $66,677 | ||
| 9 | Yale University | $67,250 | $69,901 | ||
| 10 | University of Pennsylvania | $68,686 | $71,369 | ||
| 11 | Vanderbilt University | $67,498 | $71,247 | ||
| 12 | Rice University | $61,247 | $64,533 | ||
| 13 | University of Chicago | $69,324 | $73,238 | ||
| 14 | Cornell University | $69,314 | $72,779 | ||
| 15 | University of California-Los Angeles | $14,233 | $46,121 | $14,736 | $47,775 |
| 16 | Northwestern University | $68,322 | $70,729 | ||
| 17 | Dartmouth College | $68,019 | $70,623 | ||
| 18 | Brown University | $71,312 | $74,533 | ||
| 19 | Amherst College | $70,480 | $73,832 | ||
| 20 | University of California-San Diego | $15,788 | $47,676 | $16,329 | $49,368 |
| 21 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | $18,848 | $63,081 | $19,403 | $66,202 |
| 22 | Duke University | $68,758 | $71,844 | ||
| 23 | Swarthmore College | $65,494 | $68,728 | ||
| 24 | California Institute of Technology | $65,898 | $68,651 | ||
| 25 | Washington University in St Louis | $65,790 | $68,723 | ||
| 26 | Claremont McKenna College | $67,980 | $72,039 | ||
| 27 | Emory University | $64,280 | $67,988 | ||
| 28 | University of Southern California | $71,647 | $75,227 | ||
| 29 | Wellesley College | $67,176 | $70,159 | ||
| 30 | University of Florida | $6,381 | $28,659 | $6,381 | $28,659 |
| 31 | University of California-Irvine | $14,752 | $46,640 | $15,286 | $48,325 |
| 32 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | $12,058 | $34,484 | $12,359 | $36,171 |
| 33 | University of Notre Dame | $65,025 | $67,444 | ||
| 34 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | $23,118 | $61,591 | $23,941 | $63,613 |
| 35 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | $8,994 | $41,203 | $8,999 | $43,165 |
| 36 | Pomona College | $65,420 | $68,668 | ||
| 37 | University of Maryland-College Park | $11,809 | $41,186 | $12,121 | $42,085 |
| 38 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | $18,267 | $40,096 | $18,476 | $41,021 |
| 39 | Bowdoin College | $67,832 | $70,886 | ||
| 40 | Brigham Young University | $6,688 | $6,886 | ||
| 41 | Georgetown University | $68,089 | $71,236 | ||
| 42 | University of California-Santa Barbara | $15,444 | $47,332 | $15,938 | $48,977 |
| 43 | Carnegie Mellon University | $65,636 | $68,086 | ||
| 44 | University of California-Davis | $15,804 | $47,692 | $16,381 | $49,420 |
| 45 | Boston University | $68,102 | $71,168 | ||
| 46 | The University of Texas at Austin | $11,688 | $44,908 | $11,698 | $47,144 |
| 47 | Washington and Lee University | $68,045 | $71,757 | ||
| 48 | Colgate University | $70,306 | $73,749 | ||
| 49 | New York University | $62,796 | $65,246 | ||
| 50 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | $12,973 | $43,209 | $13,312 | $44,456 |
| 51 | Wesleyan University | $70,042 | $73,205 | ||
| 52 | Middlebury College | $67,600 | $70,002 | ||
| 53 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | $11,603 | $42,103 | $12,015 | $43,658 |
| 54 | Boston College | $70,702 | $73,859 | ||
| 55 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | $12,161 | $33,230 | $13,353 | $35,626 |
| 56 | Haverford College | $70,398 | $72,859 | ||
| 57 | University of Georgia | $11,450 | $31,688 | $11,727 | $33,227 |
| 58 | Tufts University | $70,704 | $73,685 | ||
| 59 | Davidson College | $64,430 | $69,129 | ||
| 60 | William & Mary | $25,734 | $51,038 | $26,446 | $52,718 |
| 61 | Texas A & M University-College Station | $12,995 | $40,124 | $13,151 | $39,921 |
| 62 | Purdue University-Main Campus | $9,992 | $28,794 | $9,992 | $28,794 |
| 63 | University of California-Santa Cruz | $15,035 | $46,923 | $15,525 | $48,564 |
| 64 | Lehigh University | $64,980 | $67,906 | ||
| 65 | Santa Clara University | $61,293 | $63,416 | ||
| 66 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | $8,799 | $32,847 | $8,704 | $33,964 |
| 67 | George Washington University | $67,710 | $70,753 | ||
| 68 | Binghamton University | $10,567 | $30,447 | $10,775 | $31,475 |
| 69 | University of Rochester | $67,080 | $69,928 | ||
| 70 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | $17,929 | $37,441 | $18,647 | $38,939 |
| 71 | Colby College | $69,600 | $72,735 | ||
| 72 | Florida State University | $6,517 | $21,683 | $6,517 | $21,683 |
| 73 | Hamilton College | $68,960 | $75,797 | ||
| 74 | College of the Holy Cross | $64,500 | $68,369 | ||
| 75 | Villanova University | $67,776 | $70,997 | ||
| 76 | University of Miami | $62,616 | $65,427 | ||
| 77 | University of California-Riverside | $14,636 | $46,524 | $15,117 | $48,156 |
| 78 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | $17,214 | $38,362 | $17,972 | $40,428 |
| 79 | Michigan State University | $18,079 | $44,850 | $18,926 | $45,675 |
| 80 | Stony Brook University | $10,931 | $32,741 | $11,315 | $35,320 |
| 81 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | $15,948 | $37,764 | $16,432 | $38,865 |
| 82 | Trinity University | $53,676 | $56,105 | ||
| 83 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | $13,244 | $40,022 | $13,641 | $41,751 |
| 84 | Harvey Mudd College | $68,613 | $71,055 | ||
| 85 | Bucknell University | $67,812 | $70,995 | ||
| 86 | Clemson University | $15,554 | $40,866 | $15,554 | $42,281 |
| 87 | San Diego State University | $8,728 | $21,328 | $9,189 | $22,552 |
| 88 | Trinity College | $70,770 | $74,286 | ||
| 89 | Smith College | $65,178 | $69,000 | ||
| 90 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College | $7,464 | $15,414 | $7,464 | $15,414 |
| 91 | Lafayette College | $64,648 | $67,601 | ||
| 92 | University of Richmond | $65,230 | $67,970 | ||
| 93 | University of Colorado Boulder | $15,214 | $42,970 | $14,880 | $44,022 |
| 94 | Indiana University-Bloomington | $12,144 | $41,891 | $12,509 | $43,349 |
| 95 | Babson College | $57,152 | $58,294 | ||
| 96 | University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus | $9,797 | $27,377 | $10,003 | $28,108 |
| 97 | California State University-Long Beach | $7,374 | $19,974 | $7,759 | $21,122 |
| 98 | Wake Forest University | $67,642 | $70,654 | ||
| 99 | University of Utah | $9,620 | $30,860 | $9,935 | $31,918 |
| 100 | Bates College | $66,590 | $69,855 | ||
| Average | $13,357 | $54,970 | $13,721 | $57,346 | |
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