Top 10 Best Universities in the US 2025, Ranked by WalletHub

By compiling what it calls "2025's Best College & University Rankings," the personal finance website WalletHub hopes to assist high school seniors who are still on the fence about where to enroll in college.

WalletHub's rankings of the 2025 Best Colleges in America are surprising because they include schools that are not as well-known as others, such as Swarthmore and Hamilton, alongside more prestigious institutions such as Princeton, Yale, and Harvard.

The typical annual cost of a four-year college education, according to the company, is $28,000 to $60,000. In its mission "to determine the top-performing schools at the lowest possible costs to undergraduates," WalletHub claimed to have been instrumental. In pursuit of this goal, the organization compared 822 educational institutions using 30 critical metrics across seven domains.

Learn more: Top 10 Most Stressed States In The US by The WalletHub Report

The following is a brief summary of the colleges and universities that were included in the Top 10 list by WalletHub:

Top 10 Best Colleges and Universities for 2025

The full report can be found on wallethub.com.

1. Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton was founded in 1746 and was known for 150 years as the College of New Jersey. In 1756, the College of New Jersey moved to Princeton. Nassau Hall was given land by Nathaniel FitzRandolph. In 1896, College of New Jersey changed its name to Princeton University after adding more classes. Graduate School first opened in 1900.

Through classes, clubs, and other activities, the University helps students become leaders and do good in many areas. Princeton needs to find and help talented people from all walks of life, because there is talent all over the United States.

The University's unofficial motto is "In the Nation's Service and the Service of Humanity." It has trained thousands of people who work for the government in the US and around the world.

The 10.8 million-square-foot University of Princeton and West Windsor Township is made up of more than 200 buildings. The University has more than 1,500 rental units for graduates and faculty/staff. The university owns more than 1,800 acres in Princeton, 880 acres in West Windsor, and 680 acres in Plainsboro Township.

With over 8,100 benefits-eligible employees, the University is one of the biggest private employers in central New Jersey. It buys a lot of goods and services and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.

2. Yale University

Yale University

Yale has been committed to advancing and sharing knowledge, sparking new ideas, and keeping cultural and scientific records for future generations since its founding in 1701.

Yale has an impact on people all over the world. It works with New Haven, Connecticut, where it was born and raised to improve the city's economy and community. It also works with people and organizations all over the world to help people understand other cultures, make the world a better place, learn more about the mysteries of the universe, and train the next generation of world leaders.

3. Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is a private Ivy League research university. It is the oldest college or university in the United States. It was founded on October 28, 1636, and named for its first donor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard. It is one of the most prestigious universities in the world because of its power, wealth, and rankings.

188 living billionaires, eight U.S. presidents, 24 heads of state, 31 heads of government, founders of well-known companies, Nobel laureates, Fields Medalists, members of Congress, MacArthur Fellows, Rhodes Scholars, Marshall Scholars, Turing Award Recipients, Pulitzer Prize Recipients, and Fulbright Scholars are all Harvard alumni, faculty, or researchers. By most measures, Harvard University is one of the best universities in the world in all of these areas. Ten Academy Awards and 110 Olympic medals, including 46 gold, have been won by Harvard students and alumni as a whole.

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, Massachusetts is home to the private research university known as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Established in reaction to the rapid industrialization taking place in the US, MIT followed the model of European polytechnic universities and placed an emphasis on hands-on laboratory education in STEM fields.

A total of 108 recipients of the Nobel Prize, 26 recipients of the Turing Award, and 8 recipients of the Fields Medal have some connection to MIT, either as alumni, professors, or researchers. Along with 83 Marshall Scholars, 41 astronauts, 16 Chief Scientists of the US Air Force, 1 foreign head of state, 29 recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, 50 MacArthur Fellows, and 41 other notable alumni include these figures.

5. Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is private and founded in 1769. The rural 237-acre campus has 4,447 undergraduates (fall 2023). Quarterly academic calendar. Best Colleges 2025 ranks Dartmouth 15th in National Universities. Its tuition and fees are $68,019.

Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire had over 30 NCAA Division I varsity sports teams and many student activities. Over 90% of students live in dorms, fraternities, sororities, college-approved coeds, and undergraduate societies. For 60% of Dartmouth students, Greek organizations are social hubs. The Outing Club, the oldest and largest collegiate outing club in the country, offers outdoor activities, expeditions, gear rentals, and courses and is Dartmouth's most popular student organization. Dartmouth invented BASIC.

Dartmouth College has undergraduate arts and sciences and engineering departments and four graduate programs, including the top-ranked Tuck School of Business, Thayer School of Engineering, and Geisel School of Medicine. Carnegie Foundation calls Dartmouth "very high research activity." In over 20 countries, 50% of students attend off-campus programs. Dr. Seuss, "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes, and Dartmouth alumni. Classic comedy "Animal House" is loosely based on Dartmouth fraternity stories.

6. Rice University

Rice University

Still going strong in 2025, Houston's most esteemed university, Rice University, has been named first among all Texas colleges and universities by WalletHub.

In WalletHub's ranking of the top Southern universities, Rice University took first place in both Texas and the South overall. Additionally, it was named the sixth-best college in the country.

In terms of gender and racial diversity, Rice University ranked thirteenth, and it had the "best" (or lowest) on-campus crime rate. When it came to net cost, the school was 24th.

With an acceptance rate of 8%, Rice University is ranked #27 in the nation for admission rates.

The latest honors for Rice continue their impressive run of high rankings. The private school was named the best college in Texas for 2025 and the 18th best in the country by U.S. News & World Report in September. Recently, the education review and information platform Niche ranked Rice as the top college in Texas for 2025 and the fifteenth best college in the nation. Also, in its ranking of the best American universities for 2024–25, Forbes placed Rice at #9.

7. California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

Caltech is a famous science and engineering school that brings together some of the smartest people and most cutting-edge tools in the world to solve important scientific problems and social problems.

The Institute runs JPL for NASA and sends probes to study other planets in our solar system and measure how our own planet is changing. Caltech also owns and runs a global network of astronomical observatories, including the Palomar and W. M. Keck Observatories, as well as large research facilities like the Seismological Laboratory. It also helped to create and runs LIGO.

Caltech is an independent school in Pasadena, California, that is backed by private donors. Its campus covers 124 acres.

8. Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University - School of Computer Science

Carnegie Mellon is a private, global research university that is one of the best schools in the world and sets its own goals. Begin your trip here.

In the ten years since 2008, more than 400 startups with ties to CMU have raised more than $7 billion in new money. These investment numbers are especially high because of how big Pittsburgh's growing cluster of self-driving car companies is. These companies, like Uber, Aurora, Waymo, and Motional, are all here because they have strong ties to CMU.

CMU doesn't just imagine the future; we make it happen with cutting-edge brain science, ground-breaking performances, new businesses, driverless cars, big data, big goals, the Nobel and Turing prizes, hands-on learning, and a lot of robots.

9. Northwestern University

Northwestern University- Best) Law School in the US

Northwestern University is private and founded in 1851. Fall 2023 undergraduate enrollment was 8,846 on its 231-acre campus. The academic calendar is quarterly. National Universities, #6, is Northwestern University's 2025 Best Colleges ranking. Its tuition and fees are $68,322.

Northwestern is a Big Ten Division I school. Northwestern's women's lacrosse team has won multiple NCAA titles. For diverse student interests, the school has hundreds of campus organizations. All first-year students must live on campus for two years. The school's 10 residential colleges offer themed living quarters for social and academic programming. Northwestern has main campuses in Evanston and Chicago along Lake Michigan. Northwestern added a third Doha branch in 2008.

Nine of Northwestern's 12 schools offer undergraduate programs and 10 graduate and professional programs. Kellogg School of Management, School of Education and Social Policy, Pritzker School of Law, Feinberg School of Medicine, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Interdepartmental Biological Sciences Program are Northwestern's top graduate schools. Northwestern's Medill School has a strong journalism graduate program. One of the largest student-run philanthropies in the country, Northwestern's Dance Marathon, was founded in 1975 and has raised over $20 million for Chicago charities. Former Justice John Paul Stevens, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, ESPN commentator Michael Wilbon, comedian Stephen Colbert, and SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell are alumni.

10. Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University has been around since 1876 and is a private school. It has 6,090 undergraduate students (fall 2023) and is in an urban area. The campus is 140 acres in size. The school calendar is based on the numbers 4-1-4. In the 2025 edition of Best Colleges, Johns Hopkins University is ranked #6 among national universities. The cost of tuition and fees is $65,230.

There are nine schools at Johns Hopkins University, and five of them are for first-year students. The main campus for first-year students is the Homewood Campus, which is one of the university's four campuses in and around Baltimore. Freshmen and sophomores have to live on campus. There are more than 1,300 students in the Greek community.

Hopkins also has campuses for its School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.; Bologna, Italy; and Nanjing, China among other places. The Bloomberg School of Public Health is the best graduate school at Johns Hopkins. The School of Education, the Whiting School of Engineering, the School of Medicine, and the Peabody Institute for music and dance are also very good. The specialties at Johns Hopkins Hospital are among the best in the world.

FAQs

What criteria were employed to determine the ranking of these schools?

Seven categories were evaluated by WalletHub in its rankings:

Student selectivity: High school performance, test scores, and admission rates.

Cost and financing: The net cost, the average student debt, and the availability of financial aid.

Faculty resources: Faculty salaries and student-to-faculty ratios.

On-campus crime rates: Campus safety.

Student housing, international students, and NCAA membership comprise campus experience.

Educational outcomes: Retention rates and graduation rates.

Career outcomes: Student loan default rates and post-graduation salaries.

Which educational institutions yield the greatest return on investment?

Princeton University, Yale University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) provide students with some of the most favorable returns on their investments. Graduates of these institutions typically receive substantially higher salaries than those who possess only a high school diploma. For instance, Princeton graduates can earn up to $1 million more over the course of 20 years, and their average post-graduation salary exceeds $110,000.

What distinguishes the top college from the top university?

Although Princeton and MIT were the most highly ranked universities, smaller liberal arts colleges also performed well. Swarthmore College, situated in Pennsylvania, has achieved the highest ranking among colleges as a result of its exceptional student-to-faculty ratio, rigorous academic standards, and robust career prospects for its graduates.

What is the status of regional rankings?

Another critical variable is regional rankings. Northwestern University and the University of Notre Dame are the most prominent institutions in the Midwest. In the Northeast, Princeton and Yale are notable institutions, while Stanford and Caltech are shining in the West.

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