--- title: The Best Colleges for Every Type of Student description: MONEY's Best Colleges lists include rankings for financial aid and scholarships, minorities, majors, recreation/sports, and other criteria. authors: - name: Money url: https://money.com/author/money-staff/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 13 covers: - Education - Career Advice - Economy and Politics - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Personal Finance - Pets social: - https://x.com/money former_staff: true published: '2017-07-10T11:00:23.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T12:33:01.000Z' section: Education tags: - Best colleges - college rankings - financial aid - in-state colleges - out-of-state colleges word_count: 568 canonical: https://money.com/best-colleges-rankings/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Students in the Jade Lawn Room, University of Virginia](https://img.money.com/2017/07/170710-col-best-colleges-lists.jpg) *Students talk on the campus of University of Virginia, which appears on several specialty rankings, including best public colleges for earning a big paycheck and best colleges for African American students.* Each year after Money publishes its latest college rankings, we slice the data in different ways to find top colleges for students with special interests. Whether you're looking for a university with a strong student success record for minority students, a school with great hiking trails in its backyard, or a college that doesn't care if standardized tests give you major anxiety, we've got you covered. We've already published several new lists based off our [just-released 2017 Best Colleges rankings](https://money.com/best-colleges/), and we'll continue to do so—or you can use [Money's college finder tool](https://money.com/best-colleges/) to identify a few schools that are perfect for you. Here are several of the specialized rankings Money has produced. * * * [**Best Colleges for Business Majors**](https://money.com/best-colleges/rankings/) Business is the most popular major on college campuses these days, but there’s wide variation in the quality of the programs. Here are the 50 schools that score highest on Money’s measures of educational quality, affordability, and the financial success of undergraduate business majors. [**The 50 Best Public Colleges**](https://money.com/best-public-colleges/) Public colleges and universities are usually the most affordable option for in-state students. These are the top public school's on Money's overall list. **Best Colleges You Can Actually Get Into** Are the elite schools too much of a long shot? These colleges accept more than half of applicants. **50 Colleges That Add the Most Value** These colleges help students do far better than would be expected from their academic and economic backgrounds. [**Best Colleges in the South**](https://money.com/best-colleges-in-the-south/) Maybe you're a Southerner and want to study close to home, or maybe you're looking for a warmer place to spend the next four years. These are the Southern schools topping our rankings. **25 Best Public Colleges for Big Paychecks** These affordable and high-ranking public colleges are at the top of Payscale's return on investment report—that is, colleges where alumni have the largest earnings premium over high school graduates, after subtracting the cost of attendance. [**Best Colleges for Sports Lovers**](https://money.com/best-colleges-sports-lovers/) Money teamed up with *Sports Illustrated* to build a list of colleges that stand out for their athletics and academics. [**10 Best Colleges for People Who Love the Great Outdoors**](https://money.com/best-colleges-outdoor-adventures/) For the student who wants educational value and access to a variety of outdoor excursions. [**31 Great Colleges That Don't Care About Your Lousy Test Scores**](https://money.com/test-optional-best-colleges/) The list of colleges going "test-optional" grows every year. Here are some of the best schools where you don't need to submit SAT or ACT scores. [**91 Great Colleges That Give Every Freshman a Scholarship**](https://money.com/college-everybody-scholarship-2016/) Most private colleges awards scholarships to the majority of incoming students. These colleges, though, award money to almost every freshman. **[Best State Schools for Out-of-State Students](https://money.com/state-schools-out-of-state-students/)** Attending a public college outside your home state can carry sky-high price tags, but these flagship universities offer discounts to out-of-state students. [**28 Best Colleges for Need-Based Financial Aid**](https://money.com/best-colleges-need-based-financial-aid/) These are some of the country's wealthiest and most generous colleges. [**50 Best Colleges for African Americans**](https://money.com/best-colleges-african-americans/) Money partnered with *Essence* magazine to find the colleges that have the best record of admitting a significant population of African-American students—and then helping them succeed. [**25 Great Colleges for Good Science Students**](https://money.com/great-science-colleges-for-good-students/) Great colleges that are actually accessible for the aspiring engineer or scientist. **[10 Best Colleges for Skiers and Snowboarders](https://money.com/best-colleges-ski-snowboard/)** For students who want to shred each weekend in the winter. **10 Best Colleges for Beach Lovers** These colleges have bragging rights for both their beaches and their brainy students. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/best-colleges-rankings/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Colleges and Universities", "item": "https://money.com/colleges-and-universities/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Best Colleges for Every Type of Student" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/best-colleges-rankings/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/best-colleges-rankings/", "name": "The Best Colleges for Every Type of Student", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2017-07-10T11:00:23.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/best-colleges-rankings/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/best-colleges-rankings/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T12:33:01.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "The Best Colleges for Every Type of Student", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/07/170710-col-best-colleges-lists.jpg", "width": 3504, "height": 2336, "caption": "170710-COL-best-colleges-lists" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Money", "url": "https://money.com/author/money-staff/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/money-staff/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/money" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2017-07-10T11:00:23.000Z", "description": "MONEY's Best Colleges lists include rankings for financial aid and scholarships, minorities, majors, recreation/sports, and other criteria.", "abstract": "MONEY's Best Colleges lists include rankings for financial aid and scholarships, minorities, majors, recreation/sports, and other criteria.", "@id": "https://money.com/best-colleges-rankings/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T12:33:01.000Z", "wordCount": 568, "keywords": [ "Best colleges", "college rankings", "financial aid", "in-state colleges", "out-of-state colleges" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Higher education", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education" ] } ] } ] } ```