- Best Colleges 2025
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Top Rated Colleges
Introducing 2025’s 5-star colleges
- Babson College
- Berea College
- Bowdoin College
- Brown University
- California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
- California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
- California State University, Dominguez Hills
- California State University, Fullerton
- California State University, Long Beach
- California State University, Los Angeles
- California State University, San Bernardino
- California State University, Stanislaus
- Columbia University in the City of New York
- Cornell University
- Dartmouth College
- Duke University
- Fresno Pacific University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Harvey Mudd College
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Northwestern University
- Pomona College
- Princeton University
- Rice University
- San Jose State University
- Stanford University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California, Davis
- University of California, Irvine
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of California, San Diego
- University of Chicago
- University of Illinois Chicago
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- University of Michigan
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Pennsylvania
- Williams College
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Best Colleges in the West
About 70% of the top-scoring schools in the western half of the country are public universities, thanks in part to California’s strong public university systems. Here’s a look at the best in the region.
| College Name
|
Est. Price With Average Aid
|
Graduation Rate
|
Median Student Debt
|
Typical Early Career Earnings
|
|
| $15,500 | 65% | $11,070 | $75,790 | ||
| $24,800 | 93% | N/A | $128,570 | ||
| $17,900 | 86% | $18,500 | $90,770 | ||
| $12,600 | 77% | $16,000 | $71,900 | ||
| $7,000 | 61% | $16,600 | $59,010 | ||
| $11,600 | 73% | $15,000 | $62,150 | ||
| $16,100 | 73% | $16,550 | $64,170 | ||
| $4,700 | 69% | $13,810 | $57,160 | ||
| $11,500 | 68% | $16,540 | $71,400 | ||
| $7,800 | 66% | $14,510 | $61,240 | ||
|
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|||||
| $6,700 | 80% | $13,750 | $62,950 | ||
| $10,300 | 83% | $14,290 | $64,400 | ||
| $4,800 | 64% | $13,000 | $59,210 | ||
| $16,200 | 73% | $12,750 | $59,250 | ||
| $8,700 | 68% | $13,870 | $59,120 | ||
| $11,900 | 70% | $15,000 | $64,880 | ||
| $7,100 | 69% | $14,720 | $59,980 | ||
| $11,100 | 67% | $17,350 | $62,910 | ||
| $7,800 | 69% | $13,540 | $63,190 | ||
| $16,500 | 65% | $19,500 | $61,580 | ||
| $31,800 | 92% | $13,500 | $104,740 | ||
| $31,600 | 84% | $23,000 | $97,340 | ||
| $16,600 | 74% | $23,150 | $58,900 | ||
| $45,300 | 94% | $25,000 | $138,690 | ||
| $33,400 | 74% | $25,000 | $78,640 | ||
| $29,800 | 62% | $25,000 | $67,550 | ||
| $18,500 | 93% | $11,780 | $77,780 | ||
| $20,700 | 81% | $15,000 | $64,910 | ||
| $14,200 | 66% | $15,370 | $68,080 | ||
| $14,700 | 75% | $15,000 | $78,990 | ||
| $16,000 | 69% | $16,710 | $65,990 | ||
| $19,100 | 96% | $12,000 | $124,080 | ||
| $24,400 | 85% | $18,000 | $55,620 | ||
| $18,000 | 93% | $13,000 | $92,450 | ||
| $18,400 | 89% | $13,000 | $80,840 | ||
| $15,500 | 85% | $15,000 | $80,740 | ||
| $16,100 | 93% | $14,000 | $82,510 | ||
| $14,000 | 73% | $16,140 | $64,370 | ||
| $14,400 | 79% | $17,500 | $67,700 | ||
| $14,100 | 90% | $15,500 | $84,940 | ||
| $16,200 | 87% | $13,990 | $74,920 | ||
| $17,500 | 80% | $16,670 | $68,400 | ||
| $37,100 | 80% | $21,370 | $82,800 | ||
| $44,000 | 94% | $18,000 | $92,500 | ||
| $14,200 | 66% | $19,000 | $67,170 | ||
| $11,700 | 84% | $14,620 | $78,470 | ||
No results match.
TOP
Notes: Prices for the 2025-2026 academic year use the most recently available data as reported to IPEDS plus an inflation measure to estimate the prices for the upcoming year. Students who get merit grants are full-time undergraduates who had no financial need and were awarded grants. Graduation rate measures degree completion within six years for both transfer students and first-time students. Early career earnings are the median earnings for both graduates and non-completers, 10 years after they first enrolled.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, Peterson’s, Money/Witlytic calculations.
