Best Private Colleges (2026)

How this list is ranked

Private nonprofit colleges often post the highest graduation rates and the most generous aid, which can make the real net price lower than a public school for many families. Here are the strongest.

Schools on this list 50

Source Federal data, same records as every school page

Admit rate, net price, and SAT in the table are for context. Rank order follows the method above, not those columns.

Rank	School	Admit	Net price	SAT
1	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	4.6%	$6,128	1510-1580	See record
2	Yale University New Haven, CT	3.9%	$23,777	1470-1570	See record
3	Stanford University Stanford, CA	3.6%	$13,807	1510-1580	See record
4	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	3.6%	$19,066	1510-1580	See record
5	Duke University Durham, NC	5.7%	$29,612	1500-1570	See record
6	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	5.4%	$28,699	1510-1570	See record
7	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	5.4%	$29,519	1500-1570	See record
8	Brown University Providence, RI	5.4%	$25,184	1510-1580	See record
9	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	6.4%	$18,809	1520-1570	See record
10	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	4.0%	$21,590	1510-1580	See record
11	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	8.8%	$28,690	1500-1570	See record
12	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	7.7%	$29,167	1510-1570	See record
13	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	4.5%	$14,860	1510-1580	See record
14	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	7.1%	$14,398	1470-1550	See record
15	Amherst College Amherst, MA	9.0%	$23,367	1490-1580	See record
16	Hamilton College Clinton, NY	13.6%	$28,985	1450-1550	See record
17	Williams College Williamstown, MA	8.3%	$17,716	1490-1570	See record
18	Rice University Houston, TX	8.0%	$13,370	1510-1570	See record
19	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	5.9%	$15,846	1500-1570	See record
20	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	11.3%	$26,780	1455-1560	See record
21	Washington University in St Louis St. Louis, MO	12.1%	$21,786	1500-1570	See record
22	Emory University Atlanta, GA	10.7%	$22,585	1470-1550	See record
23	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	11.7%	$31,944	1500-1570	See record
24	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	7.5%	$23,149	1490-1560	See record
25	New York University New York, NY	9.2%	$37,050	1480-1560	See record
26	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	9.8%	$32,740	1450-1550	See record
27	Tufts University Medford, MA	11.5%	$39,998	1470-1560	See record
28	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	16.4%	$41,704	1440-1540	See record
29	Boston University Boston, MA	11.1%	$24,402	1420-1530	See record
30	Northeastern University Boston, MA	5.2%	$30,915	1440-1540	See record
31	Babson College Wellesley, MA	17.1%	$40,514	1390-1530	See record
32	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	26%	$36,931	1370-1500	See record
33	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	14.0%	$39,949	1400-1520	See record
34	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	63%	$40,892	1340-1490	See record
35	Riverside College of Health Careers Newport News, VA	12.9%	$20,744	-	See record
36	Messenger College Bedford, TX	38%	$26,433	-	See record
37	Laboure College of Healthcare Milton, MA	50%	$36,863	-	See record
38	California Jazz Conservatory Berkeley, CA	67%	-	-	See record
39	Cleveland University-Kansas City Overland Park, KS	69%	$35,764	-	See record
40	St Luke's College Sioux City, IA	80%	$19,820	980	See record
41	St. John Vianney College Seminary Miami, FL	93%	-	-	See record
42	Women's Institute of Torah Seminary and College Baltimore, MD	98%	$11,673	-	See record
43	Amridge University Montgomery, AL	-	-	-	See record
44	Ascent College Gainesville, VA	-	-	-	See record
45	Catholic International University Charles Town, WV	-	$14,176	-	See record
46	Centra College Lynchburg, VA	100%	-	-	See record
47	Cox College Springfield, MO	100%	-	-	See record
48	Divine Word College Epworth, IA	-	-	-	See record
49	Grace Mission University Fullerton, CA	-	-	-	See record
50	Grace School of Theology Conroe, TX	-	$11,881	-	See record