A new report has listed all of the top universities and colleges for next year.
And a college in Pennsylvania has come in first.
The report — published by WalletHub — crowned Swarthmore in Swarthmore, Delaware County, as the best college in the United States.
On a combined list of colleges and universities, Swarthmore ranked 11th overall. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh ranked eighth.
“The best college for 2025, and the 11th-best institution overall, is Swarthmore College, an extremely selective school with an admission rate of just 7%, located in Swarthmore, PA,” the study states. “For the upcoming school year, 89% of enrolled students graduated in the top 10% of their high school classes, and their SAT and ACT test scores rank among the best in the country.
“Competitiveness in the classroom isn’t all that makes Swarthmore a top college, though. It also has one faculty member for every eight students, the fifth-best ratio in the country. Giving personalized attention to students contributes to the fourth-highest graduation rate, at 94%.”
Other Pennsylvanian universities included on the general list were the University of Pennsylvania — which ranked 12th — and Haverford College (49th). UPenn was also ranked first in a four-way tie for having the highest graduation rate, and first again in a five-way tie together with Carnegie Mellon when it came to the median salaries of graduates.
WalletHub researchers determined these rankings after first seeding a list of 822 locations. These locations were then analyzed across seven main dimensions — “Student Selectivity;” “Cost & Financing;” “Faculty Resources;” “Campus Safety;” “Campus Experience;” “Educational Outcomes;” and “Career Outcomes” — as well as accompanying metrics such as ‘Net Cost” and “Post-Attendance Median Salary.”
The school that ranked first overall was Princeton University in Princeton, N.J.
“In general, universities tend to rank higher than colleges due to their inclusion of graduate-level programs, greater on-campus opportunities and higher earnings for students post-graduation,” says WalletHub Analyst, Chip Lupo. “In fact, the top 10 places for higher education in the U.S. are all universities.
“There are still tons of high-ranking colleges, though, which offer their own advantages like smaller class sizes, more personalized learning and often safer campuses.”
Education
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