Colleges by State
Profiles for 438 colleges across all 50 states and Washington D.C., with acceptance rates, SAT and ACT ranges, tuition and average net price from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard. California has the most at 57. Pick a state to see its schools ordered by selectivity.
New to these figures? How to read acceptance rate, net price and retention covers what each one measures and what it does not, in one place rather than on every school profile.
Looking specifically at historically Black colleges? All 102 HBCUs, by state lists every one with its admission rate, net price, graduation rate and what graduates earn.
Choosing by major? The best colleges for finance are ranked by what their finance graduates earn, with the formula shown. Weighing cost? See which colleges require the CSS Profile for their own financial aid.
Looking for a specific school, or want to compare several side by side? Use the college search tool to filter 6,000+ colleges by major, state, admission rate and cost.
Northeast
9 states, 117 college profiles. Dense with private nonprofits and the most selective admissions in the country.
- Colleges in Connecticut7 schoolsMost selective: Yale University at 4% acceptance
- Colleges in Maine5 schoolsMost selective: Colby College at 7% acceptance
- Colleges in Massachusetts21 schoolsMost selective: Harvard University at 4% acceptance
- Colleges in New Hampshire4 schoolsMost selective: Dartmouth College at 5% acceptance
- Colleges in New Jersey12 schoolsMost selective: Princeton University at 5% acceptance
- Colleges in New York30 schoolsMost selective: Columbia University in the City of New York at 4% acceptance
- Colleges in Pennsylvania29 schoolsMost selective: University of Pennsylvania at 5% acceptance
- Colleges in Rhode Island6 schoolsMost selective: Brown University at 5% acceptance
- Colleges in Vermont3 schoolsMost selective: Middlebury College at 11% acceptance
Midwest
12 states, 91 college profiles. Large public flagships with comparatively low in-state tuition.
- Colleges in Illinois16 schoolsMost selective: University of Chicago at 4% acceptance
- Colleges in Indiana9 schoolsMost selective: University of Notre Dame at 11% acceptance
- Colleges in Iowa5 schoolsMost selective: Grinnell College at 15% acceptance
- Colleges in Kansas8 schoolsMost selective: Kansas State University at 82% acceptance
- Colleges in Michigan7 schoolsMost selective: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor at 16% acceptance
- Colleges in Minnesota9 schoolsMost selective: Carleton College at 20% acceptance
- Colleges in Missouri7 schoolsMost selective: Washington University in St Louis at 12% acceptance
- Colleges in Nebraska3 schoolsMost selective: Creighton University at 80% acceptance
- Colleges in North Dakota2 schoolsMost selective: University of North Dakota at 77% acceptance
- Colleges in Ohio14 schoolsMost selective: Denison University at 17% acceptance
- Colleges in South Dakota2 schoolsMost selective: South Dakota State University at 98% acceptance
- Colleges in Wisconsin9 schoolsMost selective: University of Wisconsin-Madison at 45% acceptance
South
17 states, 125 college profiles. The fastest-growing region for enrollment, and home to most public honors colleges.
- Colleges in Alabama7 schoolsMost selective: Auburn University at 46% acceptance
- Colleges in Arkansas1 schoolMost selective: University of Arkansas at 74% acceptance
- Colleges in Delaware1 schoolMost selective: University of Delaware at 71% acceptance
- Colleges in District of Columbia2 schoolsMost selective: Georgetown University at 13% acceptance
- Colleges in Florida16 schoolsMost selective: University of Miami at 19% acceptance
- Colleges in Georgia12 schoolsMost selective: Emory University at 11% acceptance
- Colleges in Kentucky5 schoolsMost selective: Berea College at 19% acceptance
- Colleges in Louisiana3 schoolsMost selective: Tulane University of Louisiana at 14% acceptance
- Colleges in Maryland10 schoolsMost selective: Johns Hopkins University at 6% acceptance
- Colleges in Mississippi2 schoolsMost selective: Mississippi State University at 78% acceptance
- Colleges in North Carolina13 schoolsMost selective: Duke University at 6% acceptance
- Colleges in Oklahoma3 schoolsMost selective: University of Tulsa at 62% acceptance
- Colleges in South Carolina7 schoolsMost selective: Clemson University at 38% acceptance
- Colleges in Tennessee8 schoolsMost selective: Vanderbilt University at 6% acceptance
- Colleges in Texas20 schoolsMost selective: Rice University at 8% acceptance
- Colleges in Virginia14 schoolsMost selective: Washington and Lee University at 14% acceptance
- Colleges in West Virginia1 schoolMost selective: West Virginia University at 89% acceptance
West
13 states, 105 college profiles. Big public systems where in-state residency changes the price more than anywhere else.
- Colleges in Alaska2 schools
- Colleges in Arizona4 schoolsMost selective: University of Arizona at 86% acceptance
- Colleges in California57 schoolsMost selective: California Institute of Technology at 3% acceptance
- Colleges in Colorado9 schoolsMost selective: Colorado College at 18% acceptance
- Colleges in Hawaii2 schoolsMost selective: Hawaii Pacific University at 86% acceptance
- Colleges in Idaho2 schoolsMost selective: University of Idaho at 76% acceptance
- Colleges in Montana2 schoolsMost selective: Montana State University at 82% acceptance
- Colleges in Nevada2 schoolsMost selective: University of Nevada-Reno at 74% acceptance
- Colleges in New Mexico4 schoolsMost selective: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology at 44% acceptance
- Colleges in Oregon6 schoolsMost selective: Reed College at 25% acceptance
- Colleges in Utah4 schoolsMost selective: Brigham Young University-Provo at 68% acceptance
- Colleges in Washington10 schoolsMost selective: Whitman College at 38% acceptance
- Colleges in Wyoming1 schoolMost selective: University of Wyoming at 97% acceptance
Across every state
Three lists worth seeing before picking a state. Selectivity is for placing a school on a list, not for ranking one against another, and net price is what families paid after grant aid rather than the published sticker price. How to read these numbers
Hardest to get into
- California Institute of Technology · 2.6% admitted
- Stanford University · 3.6% admitted
- Harvard University · 3.6% admitted
- Yale University · 3.9% admitted
- Columbia University in the City of New York · 4.0% admitted
- University of Chicago · 4.5% admitted
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology · 4.5% admitted
- Princeton University · 4.6% admitted
- Northeastern University · 5.2% admitted
- Brown University · 5.4% admitted
- Dartmouth College · 5.4% admitted
- University of Pennsylvania · 5.4% admitted
- Duke University · 5.7% admitted
- Vanderbilt University · 5.9% admitted
- Johns Hopkins University · 6.4% admitted
Lowest net price
- CUNY Hunter College · $2,984 a year
- CUNY Bernard M Baruch College · $3,033 a year
- CUNY Brooklyn College · $3,103 a year
- CUNY City College · $3,776 a year
- California State University-Los Angeles · $3,967 a year
- California State University-San Bernardino · $4,564 a year
- California State University-Bakersfield · $5,652 a year
- California State University-Stanislaus · $6,067 a year
- Berea College · $6,106 a year
- Princeton University · $6,128 a year
- University of Florida · $6,541 a year
- California State University-Fullerton · $6,555 a year
- California State University-Fresno · $7,000 a year
- California State University-Northridge · $7,021 a year
- California State University-Dominguez Hills · $8,615 a year
Biggest in-state saving
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor · $43,210 saved
- University of Virginia-Main Campus · $37,709 saved
- University of California-Los Angeles · $34,200 saved
- University of California-Berkeley · $34,200 saved
- University of California-San Diego · $34,200 saved
- University of California-Irvine · $34,200 saved
- University of California-Santa Barbara · $34,200 saved
- University of California-Davis · $34,200 saved
- University of California-Santa Cruz · $34,200 saved
- University of California-Riverside · $34,200 saved
- University of California-Merced · $34,200 saved
- University of Texas at Austin · $33,220 saved
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · $32,209 saved
- University of Wisconsin-Madison · $30,500 saved
- University of Washington-Seattle Campus · $30,236 saved