The United States of America is home to
many renowned universities, like Harvard which is the oldest University in
America, founded in 1636, before the country itself was established. Other
well-known names include Princeton and Yale, which are the two top Ivy League
universities of America.
Let’s have a deeper look to have a
better understanding of the best universities in America.
The ranking uses data from World Report
and U.S. News to rank America’s 50 best universities from Ivy League to public
institutions. The infographic also shows the acceptance rate and average
tuition fee of each school.
The Methodology
There are different categories that are
scored to get the rankings. News relies on each university’s independent
reporting of data and information and does not standardize or validate the
reported information themselves.
This is how the categories are
weighted:
Graduation & Retention Rates = 22%
Undergraduate Academic Reputation = 20%
Faculty Resources = 20%
Financial Resources per Student = 10%
Graduation Rate Performance = 8%
Student Selectivity for Fall Entering
Class = 7%
Social Mobility = 5%
Graduate Indebtedness = 5%
Average Alumni Giving Rate = 3%
The Top 10 Universities
It is often assumed that the Ivy League universities are the top schools in America, but in reality, only four of the eight make the top 10.
Here’s a closer look:
|
Rank |
University |
Acceptance Rate |
School Type |
Tuition and Fees (Private or
Public Out-of-State) |
State |
|
#1 |
Princeton
University |
4% |
Private,
Ivy League |
$57,410 |
New
Jersey |
|
#2 |
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology |
4% |
Private |
$57,986 |
Massachusetts |
|
#3 |
Yale
University |
5% |
Private,
Ivy League |
$62,250 |
Connecticut |
|
#3 |
Harvard
University |
4% |
Private,
Ivy League |
$57,261 |
Massachusetts |
|
#3 |
Stanford
University |
4% |
Private |
$56,169 |
California |
|
#6 |
University
of Chicago |
6% |
Private |
$62,940 |
Illinois |
|
#7 |
University
of Pennsylvania |
6% |
Private,
Ivy League |
$63,452 |
Pennsylvania |
|
#7 |
Johns
Hopkins University |
8% |
Private |
$60,480 |
Maryland |
|
#9 |
California
Institute of Technology |
4% |
Private |
$60,864 |
California |
|
#10 |
Northwestern
University |
7% |
Private |
$63,468 |
Illinois |
The acceptance rate of applicants among
the top 10 universities is very limited and competition is quite tough. None of
the top 10 universities surpass the 7% mark of acceptance. Caltech, Stanford
University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are among the most
difficult universities to get into. The percentage of applicants who receive
acceptance letter is only 4%. On the other side, the universities of Wisconsin
and Illinois accept around 60% of all applicants.
Types of Universities
There are eight private schools in the
U.S. that have earned the distinction of Ivy League because of their prestige
and history. There are some universities that are classified as land-grant
universities. They are built on the land that was given to them by the U.S.
government. This was an effort by the government to provide higher education to
lacking communities across the country, and there is at least one in every
state.
These are the U.S.’ eight Ivy League Institutions:
Princeton University
Yale University
Columbia University
Brown University
Harvard University
Cornell University
Dartmouth University
University of Pennsylvania
Other than these prestigious academies,
there are many high caliber institutions like The Ohio State University and the
University of Wisconsin—both of which are land-grant universities.
Among the top 50, there are another four land-grant universities:
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Illinois
Cornell University
Average tuition and fees at ranked universities (2022-2023)
Private: $39,723
Public Out-of-state: $22,953
Public: $10,423
The American college tuition fee is known to be most unaffordable. The most expensive of all universities in America is Columbia University and the least expensive of the list of 50 is the University of Florida.
Infographic by: visualcapitalist
