Best Selective Colleges

Every year, the nation’s most prestigious colleges reject thousands of qualified students. But if you can beat the odds, most offer a word-class education with an incredible ROI. Money defined selective colleges as ones where the average acceptance rate for the past three years fell below 20%. Here’s how they scored on our analysis.

Published on May 16, 2022. Sources: U.S. Department of Education, Peterson’s, Money/Witlytic calculations.

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College Name	Overall Score	Acceptance rate	Est. full price 2022-23	Est. price with average grant	% of students who get any grants	Graduation rate	Early career earnings
Rank College Name Overall Score
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 100.00	100	7%	$74,500	$21,100	64%	94%	$111,220
2 Princeton University Princeton, NJ 98.46	98.46	6%	$69,900	$19,700	61%	96%	$95,690
3 Stanford University Stanford, CA 95.71	95.71	4%	$80,400	$21,100	61%	94%	$97,800
4 Yale University New Haven, CT 90.03	90.03	6%	$81,600	$18,500	56%	97%	$88,660
5 Williams College Williamstown, MA 89.71	89.71	13%	$68,400	$23,600	57%	95%	$71,610
6 Harvard University Cambridge, MA 88.97	88.97	5%	$78,000	$19,000	42%	98%	$84,920
7 Duke University Durham, NC 86.03	86.03	8%	$79,200	$28,400	58%	96%	$93,120
8 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 85.99	85.99	8%	$83,400	$25,500	51%	95%	$103,250
9 University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 85.90	85.90	12%	$37,800	$17,400	72%	91%	$73,740
10 Georgetown University Washington, DC 85.69	85.69	14%	$81,000	$32,400	41%	94%	$96,380
11 Northwestern University Evanston, IL 85.39	85.39	9%	$83,600	$29,900	59%	95%	$80,030
12 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 85.26	85.26	16%	$79,000	$31,700	61%	97%	$88,960
13 Pomona College Claremont, CA 84.71	84.71	7%	$77,200	$32,100	69%	94%	$69,150
14 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 84.67	84.67	16%	$42,700	$20,400	59%	92%	$80,360
15 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 84.50	84.50	8%	$82,400	$25,900	52%	95%	$91,630
16 Cornell University Ithaca, NY 84.13	84.13	11%	$81,200	$29,100	47%	94%	$91,180
17 Rice University Houston, TX 83.01	83.01	9%	$71,500	$20,300	64%	94%	$77,680
18 Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME 82.65	82.65	9%	$73,900	$27,100	52%	95%	$66,860
19 Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY 82.42	82.42	5%	$79,800	$23,400	59%	94%	$89,870
20 Harvey Mudd College Claremont, CA 80.58	80.58	14%	$81,800	$39,300	67%	92%	$108,990
21 Brown University Providence, RI 80.29	80.29	7%	$82,700	$29,200	46%	95%	$78,940
22 Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA 80.24	80.24	9%	$75,800	$21,500	60%	94%	$72,640
23 Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 79.84	79.84	9%	$78,200	$27,200	65%	93%	$79,870
24 Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA 79.64	79.64	10%	$78,600	$23,200	47%	93%	$86,570
25 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 79.21	79.21	6%	$79,900	$28,100	59%	92%	$112,170
26 Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO 78.72	78.72	14%	$81,800	$28,800	45%	94%	$82,730
27 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 78.61	78.61	11%	$69,600	$26,700	55%	93%	$83,290
28 Hamilton College Clinton, NY 78.35	78.35	16%	$76,800	$25,300	56%	93%	$74,340
29 University of Chicago Chicago, IL 77.72	77.72	6%	$83,800	$38,600	54%	94%	$76,730
30 Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art New York, NY 77.61	77.61	15%	$70,200	$26,400	98%	88%	$64,160
31 Bates College Lewiston, ME 77.58	77.58	12%	$77,800	$27,900	44%	89%	$64,710
32 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 76.42	76.42	11%	$82,400	$42,000	65%	92%	$83,430
33 Amherst College Amherst, MA 76.24	76.24	11%	$81,800	$19,900	60%	93%	$71,570
34 Wesleyan University Middletown, CT 75.98	75.98	16%	$80,900	$24,100	42%	89%	$68,100
35 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 75.16	75.16	15%	$78,900	$39,100	51%	89%	$100,000
36 Davidson College Davidson, NC 74.62	74.62	18%	$75,200	$30,200	73%	89%	$71,670
37 Colby College Waterville, ME 74.05	74.05	10%	$78,600	$19,600	48%	91%	$71,130
38 College of the Ozarks Point Lookout, MO 73.84	73.84	10%	$32,300	$7,900	100%	66%	$38,780
39 Emory University Atlanta, GA 71.61	71.61	16%	$74,900	$27,100	60%	90%	$72,360
40 Northeastern University Boston, MA 71.48	71.48	18%	$77,900	$39,900	64%	87%	$79,790
41 Barnard College New York, NY 70.82	70.82	12%	$80,000	$32,300	42%	92%	$71,680
42 Middlebury College Middlebury, VT 69.25	69.25	15%	$79,100	$25,900	43%	91%	$65,930
43 Tufts University Medford, MA 69.06	69.06	15%	$81,200	$34,600	41%	92%	$67,120
44 Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO 68.03	68.03	14%	$80,300	$28,800	48%	88%	$57,010
45 Haverford College Haverford, PA 67.09	67.09	16%	$81,100	$26,600	46%	91%	$69,190
46 Pitzer College Claremont, CA 66.18	66.18	14%	$79,000	$31,800	42%	84%	$62,190
47 New York University New York, NY 59.28	59.28	16%	$79,800	$48,000	59%	85%	$76,040
48 Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA 51.98	51.98	13%	$80,900	$50,100	75%	85%	$57,000

Best Selective Colleges

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Yale University

New Haven, CT

Williams College

Williamstown, MA

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Duke University

Durham, NC

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

Pomona College

Claremont, CA

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Rice University

Houston, TX

Bowdoin College

Brunswick, ME

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, CA

Brown University

Providence, RI

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, PA

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Claremont McKenna College

Claremont, CA

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA

Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Hamilton College

Clinton, NY

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

New York, NY

Bates College

Lewiston, ME

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA

Amherst College

Amherst, MA

Wesleyan University

Middletown, CT

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Davidson College

Davidson, NC

Colby College

Waterville, ME

College of the Ozarks

Point Lookout, MO

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

Northeastern University