With the first “early decision” college-application deadline looming on Nov. 1, and tuition and room and board at a four-year college costing $24,920 – $58,600 per year, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its 2026’s Best College & University Rankings report, as well as expert commentary, in addition to separate rankings for colleges and for universities.
To help college-bound seniors make the most informed school choices, WalletHub compared nearly 800 higher-education institutions in the U.S. based on 30 key measures grouped into seven categories, such as Student Selectivity, Cost & Financing and Career Outcomes. The data set ranges from student-faculty ratio to graduation rate to post-attendance median salary.
| Top 30 Colleges & Universities in America | |
| 1. Princeton University (NJ) | 16. Brown University (RI) |
| 2. Harvard University (MA) | 17. University of Chicago (IL) |
| 3. Yale University (CT) | 18. University of Notre Dame (IN) |
| 4. Dartmouth College (NH) | 19. Swarthmore College (PA) |
| 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA) | 20. University of Pennsylvania (PA) |
| 6. California Institute of Technology (CA) | 21. Vanderbilt University (TN) |
| 7. Carnegie Mellon University (PA) | 22. Claremont McKenna College (CA) |
| 8. Williams College (MA) | 23. University of Florida (FL) |
| 9. Rice University (TX) | 24. Washington University in St. Louis (MO) |
| 10. Northwestern University (IL) | 25. Wellesley College (MA) |
| 11. Columbia University (NY) | 26. Washington and Lee University (VA) |
| 12. Johns Hopkins University (MD) | 27. Harvey Mudd College (CA) |
| 13. Georgia Institute of Technology (GA) | 28. Pomona College (CA) |
| 14. Stanford University (CA) | 29. Cornell University (NY) |
| 15. Duke University (NC) | 30. Amherst College (MA) |
To view the full reports, please visit:
Best Colleges & Universities Overall: https://wallethub.com/edu/e/college-rankings/40750
Best Colleges: https://wallethub.com/edu/e/best-colleges-in-the-us-ranking/40748
Best Universities: https://wallethub.com/edu/e/best-universities-in-usa-ranking/39704