---
title: The 50 Best Private Colleges for Earning Your Degree On Time
description: There aren't many "super seniors" at these private colleges, where almost every student earns a bachelor's degree in just four years—and avoids the high cost of a longer stay.
authors:
  - name: Kim Clark
    url: https://money.com/author/kim-clark/
    at_money_since: 2013
    articles: 62
    covers:
      - Education
      - Housing
      - Investing
      - Lifestyle
      - Loans
      - Personal Finance
    social:
      - https://x.com/Money_College
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published: '2015-03-17T11:00:31.000Z'
modified: '2024-04-16T05:29:48.000Z'
section: Education
tags:
  - College
  - College degree
  - financial aid
  - four-year graduation rate
  - graduation
word_count: 713
canonical: https://money.com/fastest-private-colleges-degrees/
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/).

![150316_FF_FastestDegree](https://img.money.com/2015/03/150316_ff_fastestdegree.jpg)

Paying four years’ worth of college tuition is hard enough. But too many parents and students don’t realize that there’s a good chance they’ll have to pay for five, since [45% of full-time students](http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/the-rise-of-the-five-year-four-year-degree/?_r=0) need at least an extra year of school to earn a bachelor’s degree, according to Judith Scott-Clayton, an economist at Teachers College, Columbia University.

That common miscalculation can be “devastating” to a family’s finances, says Jim Briggs, a founder of Reducing College Costs, a private financial aid consulting firm. Since an extra year at a private college can easily cost more than $50,000 these days, “we are talking about a lot of money," Briggs adds.

Before committing to a college, you should check the four-year graduation rate with the [U.S. Department of Education](http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/). If the rate is low, ask the college and some students why that is, Briggs advises.

While students themselves cause many delays—by flunking required courses or changing majors late in their college careers—some schools do an especially good job of helping students get the courses they need to finish up in four years, saving parents that unpleasant surprise of a fifth year’s worth of bills, Briggs says.

At these 50 private colleges, you'll have the best chance of graduating on time. At all of them, the average student graduates in 4 to 4.1 years, and more than 80% of the student body earns a bachelor's degree within those four years. This list, ranked by four-year graduation rate, also includes Money's best college values ranking and our estimate of how much the degree will cost if you get the typical amount of financial aid.

Your net cost will be lower if you take advantage of, say, federal education tax credits, or if you receive scholarships from private organizations or federal, state, or local government agencies. It will be higher if you don't receive any financial aid.

<table style="width:618px"><colgroup><col style="width:285px"> <col style="width:42px"> <col style="width:75px"> <col style="width:81px"> <col style="width:135px"></colgroup><tbody><tr><th>College</th><th>State</th><th>Money ranking</th><th>% of freshmen who earn a bachelor's in 4 years</th><th>Estimated average net cost of a degree for class of 2019</th></tr><tr><td>1) Pomona College</td><td>CA</td><td>50</td><td>93%</td><td>$167,662</td></tr><tr><td>2) Haverford College</td><td>PA</td><td>122</td><td>91%</td><td>$187,297</td></tr><tr><td>3) Yale University</td><td>CT</td><td>15</td><td>90%</td><td>$188,279</td></tr><tr><td>4) University of Notre Dame</td><td>IN</td><td>20</td><td>90%</td><td>$190,073</td></tr><tr><td>5) Williams College</td><td>MA</td><td>14</td><td>90%</td><td>$173,630</td></tr><tr><td>6) Carleton College</td><td>MN</td><td>79</td><td>90%</td><td>$183,529</td></tr><tr><td>7) Davidson College</td><td>NC</td><td>72</td><td>90%</td><td>$170,095</td></tr><tr><td>8) Vassar College</td><td>NY</td><td>129</td><td>90%</td><td>$159,658</td></tr><tr><td>9) Hamilton College</td><td>NY</td><td>101</td><td>90%</td><td>$187,252</td></tr><tr><td>10) Amherst College</td><td>MA</td><td>17</td><td>89%</td><td>$161,350</td></tr><tr><td>11) Boston College</td><td>MA</td><td>122</td><td>89%</td><td>$207,603</td></tr><tr><td>12) College of the Holy Cross</td><td>MA</td><td>101</td><td>89%</td><td>$191,814</td></tr><tr><td>13) Colby College</td><td>ME</td><td>86</td><td>89%</td><td>$195,668</td></tr><tr><td>14) Swarthmore College</td><td>PA</td><td>32</td><td>89%</td><td>$180,033</td></tr><tr><td>15) Georgetown University</td><td>DC</td><td>37</td><td>88%</td><td>$210,612</td></tr><tr><td>16) University of Chicago</td><td>IL</td><td>101</td><td>88%</td><td>$194,477</td></tr><tr><td>17) Bowdoin College</td><td>ME</td><td>44</td><td>88%</td><td>$185,213</td></tr><tr><td>18) Bates College</td><td>ME</td><td>150</td><td>88%</td><td>$199,275</td></tr><tr><td>19) Washington University in St Louis</td><td>MO</td><td>62</td><td>88%</td><td>$218,216</td></tr><tr><td>20) Princeton University</td><td>NJ</td><td>4</td><td>88%</td><td>$150,602</td></tr><tr><td>21) University of Pennsylvania</td><td>PA</td><td>11</td><td>88%</td><td>$207,659</td></tr><tr><td>22) Harvard University</td><td>MA</td><td>6</td><td>87%</td><td>$186,658</td></tr><tr><td>23) Tufts University</td><td>MA</td><td>72</td><td>87%</td><td>$207,047</td></tr><tr><td>24) Johns Hopkins University</td><td>MD</td><td>107</td><td>87%</td><td>$216,263</td></tr><tr><td>25) Duke University</td><td>NC</td><td>32</td><td>87%</td><td>$198,588</td></tr><tr><td>26) Dartmouth College</td><td>NH</td><td>24</td><td>87%</td><td>$194,752</td></tr><tr><td>27) Cornell University</td><td>NY</td><td>24</td><td>87%</td><td>$200,157</td></tr><tr><td>28) Colgate University</td><td>NY</td><td>27</td><td>87%</td><td>$192,119</td></tr><tr><td>29) Bucknell University</td><td>PA</td><td>45</td><td>87%</td><td>$204,082</td></tr><tr><td>30) Vanderbilt University</td><td>TN</td><td>50</td><td>87%</td><td>$165,615</td></tr><tr><td>31) Middlebury College</td><td>VT</td><td>47</td><td>87%</td><td>$208,897</td></tr><tr><td>32) Harvey Mudd College</td><td>CA</td><td>7</td><td>86%</td><td>$193,324</td></tr><tr><td>33) Wesleyan University</td><td>CT</td><td>169</td><td>86%</td><td>$199,874</td></tr><tr><td>34) Northwestern University</td><td>IL</td><td>129</td><td>86%</td><td>$206,162</td></tr><tr><td>35) Brandeis University</td><td>MA</td><td>248</td><td>86%</td><td>$197,555</td></tr><tr><td>36) Columbia University in the City of New York</td><td>NY</td><td>22</td><td>86%</td><td>$212,954</td></tr><tr><td>37) Kenyon College</td><td>OH</td><td>94</td><td>86%</td><td>$196,119</td></tr><tr><td>38) Villanova University</td><td>PA</td><td>114</td><td>86%</td><td>$202,283</td></tr><tr><td>39) Washington and Lee University</td><td>VA</td><td>39</td><td>86%</td><td>$153,859</td></tr><tr><td>40) Macalester College</td><td>MN</td><td>214</td><td>85%</td><td>$143,259</td></tr><tr><td>41) Lafayette College</td><td>PA</td><td>28</td><td>85%</td><td>$183,806</td></tr><tr><td>42) Claremont McKenna College</td><td>CA</td><td>47</td><td>84%</td><td>$202,642</td></tr><tr><td>43) Emory University</td><td>GA</td><td>156</td><td>84%</td><td>$217,059</td></tr><tr><td>44) Babson College</td><td>MA</td><td>1</td><td>84%</td><td>$204,884</td></tr><tr><td>45) Massachusetts Institute of Technology</td><td>MA</td><td>3</td><td>84%</td><td>$159,316</td></tr><tr><td>46) Wellesley College</td><td>MA</td><td>95</td><td>84%</td><td>$170,844</td></tr><tr><td>47) Franklin and Marshall College</td><td>PA</td><td>248</td><td>84%</td><td>$196,727</td></tr><tr><td>48) Brown University</td><td>RI</td><td>19</td><td>84%</td><td>$197,789</td></tr><tr><td>49) Occidental College</td><td>CA</td><td>285</td><td>83%</td><td>$191,630</td></tr><tr><td>50) St Olaf College</td><td>MN</td><td>359</td><td>83%</td><td>$139,836</td></tr></tbody></table>

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