Most Selective Universities
Rankings based on government-verified data for qualifying institutions.
| # | Institution | Tuition | Avg Earnings | Grad Rate | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
California Institute of Technology
Private Non-Profit |
$63,255 | $132,140 | 94% | CA |
| 2 |
Harvard University
Private Non-Profit |
$59,076 | $99,572 | 98% | MA |
| 3 |
Minerva University
Private Non-Profit |
$18,700 | $0 | 86% | CA |
| 4 |
Stanford University
Private Non-Profit |
$62,484 | $102,887 | 94% | CA |
| 5 |
Columbia University in the City of New York
Private Non-Profit |
$69,045 | $88,535 | 95% | NY |
| 6 |
Yale University
Private Non-Profit |
$64,700 | $81,765 | 97% | CT |
| 7 |
Princeton University
Private Non-Profit |
$59,710 | $87,815 | 97% | NJ |
| 8 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Private Non-Profit |
$60,156 | $131,633 | 96% | MA |
| 9 |
University of Chicago
Private Non-Profit |
$66,939 | $80,870 | 95% | IL |
| 10 |
Brown University
Private Non-Profit |
$68,230 | $79,131 | 96% | RI |
| 11 |
Northeastern University
Private Non-Profit |
$63,141 | $78,413 | 91% | MA |
| 12 |
University of Pennsylvania
Private Non-Profit |
$66,104 | $90,555 | 97% | PA |
| 13 |
Dartmouth College
Private Non-Profit |
$65,739 | $82,541 | 95% | NH |
| 14 |
Vanderbilt University
Private Non-Profit |
$63,946 | $73,909 | 93% | TN |
| 15 |
Pomona College
Private Non-Profit |
$62,326 | $60,850 | 94% | CA |
| 16 |
Colby College
Private Non-Profit |
$66,600 | $60,052 | 89% | ME |
| 17 |
Duke University
Private Non-Profit |
$65,805 | $85,792 | 96% | NC |
| 18 |
Swarthmore College
Private Non-Profit |
$62,412 | $56,211 | 94% | PA |
| 19 |
Curtis Institute of Music
Private Non-Profit |
$6,000 | $31,201 | 89% | PA |
| 20 |
Northwestern University
Private Non-Profit |
$65,997 | $76,844 | 96% | IL |
| 21 |
Johns Hopkins University
Private Non-Profit |
$63,340 | $86,306 | 94% | MD |
| 22 |
Rice University
Private Non-Profit |
$58,128 | $79,751 | 95% | TX |
| 23 |
Bowdoin College
Private Non-Profit |
$64,910 | $61,692 | 95% | ME |
| 24 |
Barnard College
Private Non-Profit |
$66,246 | $60,411 | 92% | NY |
| 25 |
Cornell University
Private Non-Profit |
$66,014 | $87,830 | 95% | NY |
| 26 |
University of California-Los Angeles
Public |
$13,747 | $59,063 | 93% | CA |
| 27 |
The Juilliard School
Private Non-Profit |
$56,550 | $22,129 | 90% | NY |
| 28 |
United States Naval Academy
Public |
$0 | $0 | 91% | MD |
| 29 |
New York University
Private Non-Profit |
$60,438 | $64,543 | 88% | NY |
| 30 |
Amherst College
Private Non-Profit |
$67,280 | $62,537 | 93% | MA |
| 31 |
Pacific Oaks College
Private Non-Profit |
$33,360 | $47,962 | N/A | CA |
| 32 |
University of Southern California
Private Non-Profit |
$68,237 | $74,461 | 92% | CA |
| 33 |
Williams College
Private Non-Profit |
$64,860 | $71,754 | 96% | MA |
| 34 |
Tufts University
Private Non-Profit |
$67,844 | $68,337 | 94% | MA |
| 35 |
Middlebury College
Private Non-Profit |
$65,280 | $57,291 | 93% | VT |
| 36 |
Boston University
Private Non-Profit |
$65,168 | $65,655 | 90% | MA |
| 37 |
Claremont McKenna College
Private Non-Profit |
$64,150 | $87,603 | 93% | CA |
| 38 |
Emory University
Private Non-Profit |
$60,774 | $74,980 | 91% | GA |
| 39 |
Carnegie Mellon University
Private Non-Profit |
$63,829 | $105,360 | 92% | PA |
| 40 |
Washington University of Science and Technology
Private For-Profit |
$13,178 | $0 | 76% | VA |
| 41 |
University of California-Berkeley
Public |
$14,850 | $74,919 | 94% | CA |
| 42 |
Hamilton College
Private Non-Profit |
$65,740 | $60,082 | 92% | NY |
| 43 |
Washington University in St Louis
Private Non-Profit |
$62,982 | $78,073 | 94% | MO |
| 44 |
Colgate University
Private Non-Profit |
$67,024 | $64,949 | 91% | NY |
| 45 |
University of Notre Dame
Private Non-Profit |
$62,693 | $86,210 | 97% | IN |
| 46 |
Grinnell College
Private Non-Profit |
$64,862 | $49,004 | 88% | IA |
| 47 |
Haverford College
Private Non-Profit |
$68,300 | $53,353 | 90% | PA |
| 48 |
Bates College
Private Non-Profit |
$63,478 | $59,202 | 92% | ME |
| 49 |
Harvey Mudd College
Private Non-Profit |
$66,255 | $115,107 | 93% | CA |
| 50 |
Georgetown University
Private Non-Profit |
$65,081 | $83,222 | 95% | DC |
About This Ranking
This ranking is based on data from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, which provides comprehensive information about colleges and universities across the country.
Institutions are ranked by most selective metrics using the most recently available data. Only institutions with complete data for the ranking criteria are included.