U.S. News rank School Tuition Total enrollment Fall 2011 acceptance rate Average freshman retention rate 6-year graduation rate
#1 Overall Score 100 out of 100. Harvard University 40866 19872 0.063 0.98 97
Cambridge, MA
#1 Overall Score 100 out of 100. Princeton University 38650 7859 0.085 0.98 96
Princeton, NJ
#3 Overall Score 99 out of 100. Yale University 42300 11875 0.077 0.99 97
New Haven, CT
#4 Overall Score 95 out of 100. Columbia University 47246 22885 0.07 0.99 96
New York, NY
#4 Overall Score 95 out of 100. University of Chicago 44574 12316 0.163 0.98 92
Chicago, IL
#6 Overall Score 94 out of 100. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 42050 10894 0.097 0.98 93
Cambridge, MA
#6 Overall Score 94 out of 100. Stanford University 41787 19945 0.071 0.98 96
Stanford, CA
#8 Overall Score 93 out of 100. Duke University 43623 15427 0.14 0.97 94
Durham, NC
#8 Overall Score 93 out of 100. University of Pennsylvania 43738 19919 0.124 0.98 96
Philadelphia, PA
#10 Overall Score 92 out of 100. California Institute of Technology 39588 2231 0.128 0.98 87
Pasadena, CA
#10 Overall Score 92 out of 100. Dartmouth College 45042 6144 0.101 0.98 95
Hanover, NH
#12 Overall Score 91 out of 100. Northwestern University 43779 19968 0.18 0.97 94
Evanston, IL
#13 Overall Score 90 out of 100. Johns Hopkins University 43930 21139 0.184 0.97 92
Baltimore, MD
#14 Overall Score 88 out of 100. Washington University in St. Louis 43705 13908 0.165 0.97 93
St. Louis, MO
#15 Overall Score 87 out of 100. Brown University 43758 8768 0.089 0.98 95
Providence, RI
#15 Overall Score 87 out of 100. Cornell University 43413 21131 0.18 0.97 93
Ithaca, NY
#17 Overall Score 84 out of 100. Rice University 37292 6224 0.188 0.97 92
Houston, TX
#17 Overall Score 84 out of 100. University of Notre Dame 42971 12004 0.243 0.98 96
Notre Dame, IN
#17 Overall Score 84 out of 100. Vanderbilt University 42118 12836 0.164 0.97 92
Nashville, TN
#20 Overall Score 82 out of 100. Emory University 42980 13893 0.267 0.95 90
Atlanta, GA
#21 Overall Score 79 out of 100. Georgetown University 42870 17130 0.181 0.96 94
Washington, DC
#21 Overall Score 79 out of 100. University of California–Berkeley N/A 36142 0.216 0.97 90
Berkeley, CA
#23 Overall Score 78 out of 100. Carnegie Mellon University 45124 12058 0.304 0.96 87
Pittsburgh, PA
#24 Overall Score 77 out of 100. University of California–Los Angeles in-state: $12,692, out-of-state: $35,570 40675 0.255 0.97 90
Los Angeles, CA
#24 Overall Score 77 out of 100. University of Southern California 44463 38010 0.23 0.97 90
Los Angeles, CA
#24 Overall Score 77 out of 100. University of Virginia in-state: $12,006, out-of-state: $38,018 24297 0.333 0.97 94
Charlottesville, VA
#27 Overall Score 76 out of 100. Wake Forest University 43200 7351 0.399 0.94 88
Winston-Salem, NC
#28 Overall Score 75 out of 100. Tufts University 44666 10775 0.219 0.97 90
Medford, MA
#29 Overall Score 74 out of 100. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor in-state: $13,437, out-of-state: $39,109 42716 0.406 0.96 90
Ann Arbor, MI
#30 Overall Score 73 out of 100. University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill in-state: $7,694, out-of-state: $28,446 29137 0.314 0.97 90
Chapel Hill, NC
#31 Overall Score 71 out of 100. Boston College 43878 13906 0.28 0.95 91
Chestnut Hill, MA
#32 Overall Score 70 out of 100. New York University N/A 43911 0.327 0.92 86
New York, NY
#33 Overall Score 69 out of 100. Brandeis University 43708 5828 0.4 0.93 91
Waltham, MA
#33 Overall Score 69 out of 100. College of William and Mary in-state: $13,570, out-of-state: $36,753 8200 0.346 0.95 91
Williamsburg, VA
#33 Overall Score 69 out of 100. University of Rochester 43666 10319 0.341 0.95 83
Rochester, NY
#36 Overall Score 67 out of 100. Georgia Institute of Technology in-state: $10,098, out-of-state: $29,402 20941 0.512 0.94 79
Atlanta, GA
#37 Overall Score 66 out of 100. Case Western Reserve University 40490 9636 0.513 0.92 78
Cleveland, OH
#38 Overall Score 65 out of 100. Lehigh University 42220 7055 0.334 0.94 87
Bethlehem, PA
#38 Overall Score 65 out of 100. University of California–Davis in-state: $13,877, out-of-state: $36,755 31732 0.46 0.92 86
Davis, CA
#38 Overall Score 65 out of 100. University of California–San Diego N/A 28593 0.355 0.95 85
La Jolla, CA
#41 Overall Score 64 out of 100. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 44475 6914 0.396 0.93 84
Troy, NY
#41 Overall Score 64 out of 100. University of California–Santa Barbara in-state: $13,671, out-of-state: $36,549 21685 0.457 0.91 86
Santa Barbara, CA
#41 Overall Score 64 out of 100. University of Wisconsin–Madison in-state: $10,384, out-of-state: $26,634 42441 0.505 0.94 83
Madison, WI
#44 Overall Score 63 out of 100. University of California–Irvine N/A 27189 0.475 0.94 85
Irvine, CA
#44 Overall Score 63 out of 100. University of Miami N/A 16068 0.383 0.9 78
Coral Gables, FL
#46 Overall Score 62 out of 100. Pennsylvania State University–University Park in-state: $16,444, out-of-state: $28,746 45628 0.524 0.92 87
University Park, PA
#46 Overall Score 62 out of 100. University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign in-state: $14,428, out-of-state: $28,570 44407 0.676 0.94 82
Champaign, IL
#46 Overall Score 62 out of 100. University of Texas–Austin in-state: $9,792, out-of-state: $33,060 51112 0.466 0.92 81
Austin, TX
#46 Overall Score 62 out of 100. University of Washington N/A 42428 0.584 0.93 80
Seattle, WA
#46 Overall Score 62 out of 100. Yeshiva University 36500 6563 0.694 0.91 85
New York, NY
#51 Overall Score 61 out of 100. Boston University 42994 32439 0.494 0.91 85
Boston, MA
#51 Overall Score 61 out of 100. Tulane University 45240 13359 0.25 0.9 72 8
New Orleans, LA
#54 Overall Score 60 out of 100. Pepperdine University 42772 7539 0.316 0.9 81
Malibu, CA
#54 Overall Score 60 out of 100. University of Florida N/A 49589 0.432 0.96 84
Gainesville, FL
#56 Overall Score 59 out of 100. Northeastern University 39736 19719 0.345 0.93 77
Boston, MA
#56 Overall Score 59 out of 100. Ohio State University–Columbus in-state: $10,037, out-of-state: $25,445 56867 0.634 0.93 80
Columbus, OH
#58 Overall Score 58 out of 100. Fordham University 41732 15189 0.424 0.9 78
New York, NY
#58 Overall Score 58 out of 100. Southern Methodist University 41750 10982 0.546 0.89 75
Dallas, TX
#58 Overall Score 58 out of 100. Syracuse University 39004 20829 0.494 0.91 80
Syracuse, NY
#58 Overall Score 58 out of 100. University of Maryland–College Park in-state: $8,908, out-of-state: $27,287 37580 0.447 0.94 82
College Park, MD
#58 Overall Score 58 out of 100. University of Pittsburgh in-state: $16,590, out-of-state: $26,280 28766 0.579 0.92 79
Pittsburgh, PA
#63 Overall Score 57 out of 100. University of Connecticut in-state: $11,242, out-of-state: $29,074 25868 0.473 0.93 83
Storrs, CT
#63 Overall Score 57 out of 100. University of Georgia in-state: $9,842, out-of-state: $28,052 34816 0.63 0.94 83
Athens, GA
#65 Overall Score 56 out of 100. Purdue University–West Lafayette in-state: $9,900, out-of-state: $28,702 39637 0.683 0.88 68
West Lafayette, IN
#65 Overall Score 56 out of 100. Texas A&M University–College Station in-state: $8,505, out-of-state: $25,035 49861 0.635 0.92 80
College Station, TX
#65 Overall Score 56 out of 100. Worcester Polytechnic Institute 41380 5778 0.567 0.94 76
Worcester, MA
#68 Overall Score 55 out of 100. Brigham Young University–Provo 4710 34101 0.628 0.85 78
Provo, UT
#68 Overall Score 55 out of 100. Clemson University in-state: $12,674, out-of-state: $29,600 19914 0.633 0.91 80
Clemson, SC
#68 Overall Score 55 out of 100. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick in-state: $13,073, out-of-state: $26,393 39950 0.611 0.92 77
Piscataway, NJ
#68 Overall Score 55 out of 100. University of Minnesota–Twin Cities N/A 52557 0.466 0.89 70
Minneapolis, MN
#72 Overall Score 54 out of 100. Michigan State University N/A 47954 0.729 0.91 77
East Lansing, MI
#72 Overall Score 54 out of 100. University of Iowa in-state: $8,057, out-of-state: $26,279 29810 0.798 0.85 71
Iowa City, IA
#72 Overall Score 54 out of 100. Virginia Tech in-state: $10,930, out-of-state: $25,320 30936 0.666 0.91 82
Blacksburg, VA
#75 Overall Score 53 out of 100. Stevens Institute of Technology 43561 5541 0.417 0.91 79
Hoboken, NJ
#75 Overall Score 53 out of 100. University of Delaware N/A 20737 0.582 0.92 78
Newark, DE
#77 Overall Score 52 out of 100. American University 39499 12724 0.416 0.9 77
Washington, DC
#77 Overall Score 52 out of 100. Baylor University 33916 15029 0.397 0.84 72
Waco, TX
#77 Overall Score 52 out of 100. Colorado School of Mines in-state: $15,654, out-of-state: $30,684 5346 0.446 0.88 70
Golden, CO
#77 Overall Score 52 out of 100. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in-state: $6,570, out-of-state: $15,820 2346 0.468 0.85 66
Syracuse, NY
#77 Overall Score 52 out of 100. University of Alabama in-state: $9,200, out-of-state: $22,950 31647 0.435 0.85 66
Tuscaloosa, AL
#77 Overall Score 52 out of 100. University of California–Santa Cruz in-state: $13,416, out-of-state: $36,294 17454 0.674 0.9 77
Santa Cruz, CA
#83 Overall Score 51 out of 100. Clark University 38450 3462 0.679 0.89 80
Worcester, MA
#83 Overall Score 51 out of 100. Drexel University 36090 18489 0.575 0.84 68
Philadelphia, PA
#83 Overall Score 51 out of 100. Indiana University–Bloomington in-state: $10,033, out-of-state: $31,483 42731 0.723 0.9 72
Bloomington, IN
#83 Overall Score 51 out of 100. Marquette University 33244 12002 0.568 0.89 81
Milwaukee, WI
#83 Overall Score 51 out of 100. University of Denver 39177 11797 0.682 0.88 79
Denver, CO
#83 Overall Score 51 out of 100. University of Tulsa 31198 4092 0.41 0.88 68
Tulsa, OK
#89 Overall Score 50 out of 100. Auburn University in-state: $9,446, out-of-state: $25,190 25469 0.7 0.87 66
Auburn University, AL
#89 Overall Score 50 out of 100. Binghamton University–SUNY in-state: $7,613, out-of-state: $16,761 14746 0.407 0.91 78
Binghamton, NY
#89 Overall Score 50 out of 100. Miami University–Oxford in-state: $13,595, out-of-state: $29,158 17395 0.741 0.89 81
Oxford, OH
#92 Overall Score 49 out of 100. St. Louis University 35246 14073 0.613 0.85 71
St. Louis, MO
#92 Overall Score 49 out of 100. Stony Brook University–SUNY in-state: $7,514, out-of-state: $18,134 24059 0.392 0.89 67
Stony Brook, NY
#92 Overall Score 49 out of 100. Texas Christian University 34590 9518 0.377 0.86 74
Fort Worth, TX
#92 Overall Score 49 out of 100. University of San Diego 39970 8317 0.475 0.86 75
San Diego, CA
#92 Overall Score 49 out of 100. University of Vermont in-state: $15,254, out-of-state: $35,582 13478 0.754 0.86 72
Burlington, VT
#97 Overall Score 48 out of 100. Florida State University N/A 41087 0.585 0.91 74
Tallahassee, FL
#97 Overall Score 48 out of 100. University of Colorado–Boulder in-state: $9,482, out-of-state: $31,378 32252 0.869 0.84 68
Boulder, CO
#97 Overall Score 48 out of 100. University of Massachusetts–Amherst in-state: $13,230, out-of-state: $26,645 28084 0.656 0.88 67
Amherst, MA
#97 Overall Score 48 out of 100. University of Missouri in-state: $9,257, out-of-state: $23,366 33805 0.823 0.85 69
Columbia, MO
#101 Overall Score 47 out of 100. Iowa State University in-state: $7,726, out-of-state: $19,838 29611 0.863 0.86 68
Ames, IA
