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  1. Education
  2. Colleges and Universities

The 50 Best Private Colleges for Earning Your Degree On Time

By:
Kim Clark
5 min read
- iStock
iStock

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 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. 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.

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

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