Best college in every state
Deciding where to go to college is one of the biggest decisions a teenager has to make in their lives, ultimately having an impact on everything from future earnings and potential student loan debt to which opportunities they'll be afforded to network with alumni.
While every student wants to get the best education they possibly can, there are also other considerations to take into account: location, size, diversity, their field of study, whether they want to study abroad... the list goes on. While most best-college lists tend to be topped with the same handful of expensive Ivy League schools, the U.S. is home to more than 4,000 degree-granting schools with amazing education offerings for every college-bound high school senior.
Stacker dug into Niche's 2022 Best Colleges in America rankings to determine the best college in every state. Niche's rankings employ data from the Department of Education, including everything from academics and admissions to financial aid and student life, to give each of these factors a letter grade. Combining this data with millions of reviews from students and alumni, Niche then assigns each school a rank. Stacker used these rankings to find the best college in every state, sorted alphabetically.
Keep reading to discover which college is the highest-ranked in your state.
Alabama: Auburn University
- Number of undergraduates: 22,527
- Acceptance rate: 81% (Academics grade: A-)
- Net price: $23,562 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $48,800 (Value grade: A)
Alaska: University of Alaska Southeast
- Number of undergraduates: 588
- Acceptance rate: 61% (Academics grade: B+)
- Net price: $11,000 (Campus grade: B+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $36,000 (Value grade: B-)
Arizona: Arizona State University
- Number of undergraduates: 41,182
- Acceptance rate: 86% (Academics grade: A-)
- Net price: $14,081 (Campus grade: A-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $47,700 (Value grade: A-)
Arkansas: Hendrix College
- Number of undergraduates: 1,101
- Acceptance rate: 70% (Academics grade: A)
- Net price: $20,859 (Campus grade: B+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $39,700 (Value grade: A-)
California: Stanford University
- Number of undergraduates: 6,996
- Acceptance rate: 4% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $16,779 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $94,000 (Value grade: A+)
Colorado: Colorado School of Mines
- Number of undergraduates: 4,930
- Acceptance rate: 53% (Academics grade: A)
- Net price: $26,856 (Campus grade: C+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $84,900 (Value grade: A+)
Connecticut: Yale University
- Number of undergraduates: 6,088
- Acceptance rate: 6% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $18,073 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $83,200 (Value grade: A+)
Delaware: University of Delaware
- Number of undergraduates: 18,378
- Acceptance rate: 71% (Academics grade: A-)
- Net price: $17,539 (Campus grade: A-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $57,000 (Value grade: A)
Florida: University of Florida
- Number of undergraduates: 32,157
- Acceptance rate: 37% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $10,457 (Campus grade: A-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $56,000 (Value grade: A+)
Georgia: Georgia Institute of Technology
- Number of undergraduates: 14,310
- Acceptance rate: 21% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $16,883 (Campus grade: B+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $79,100 (Value grade: A+)
Hawaii: University of Hawaii at Manoa
- Number of undergraduates: 10,560
- Acceptance rate: 58% (Academics grade: B+)
- Net price: $15,441 (Campus grade: C)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $45,800 (Value grade: B)
Idaho: University of Idaho
- Number of undergraduates: 6,749
- Acceptance rate: 78% (Academics grade: B+)
- Net price: $15,017 (Campus grade: B+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $41,900 (Value grade: A-)
Illinois: Northwestern University
- Number of undergraduates: 8,284
- Acceptance rate: 9% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $26,196 (Campus grade: A-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $69,000 (Value grade: A+)
Indiana: University of Notre Dame
- Number of undergraduates: 8,708
- Acceptance rate: 16% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $30,536 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $78,400 (Value grade: A+)
Iowa: Grinnell College
- Number of undergraduates: 1,700
- Acceptance rate: 23% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $29,404 (Campus grade: B-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $49,100 (Value grade: A)
Kansas: Kansas State University
- Number of undergraduates: 15,548
- Acceptance rate: 95% (Academics grade: B+)
- Net price: $18,103 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $45,600 (Value grade: A-)
Kentucky: University of Kentucky
- Number of undergraduates: 20,622
- Acceptance rate: 96% (Academics grade: B+)
- Net price: $18,958 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $45,100 (Value grade: B+)
Louisiana: Tulane University
- Number of undergraduates: 7,260
- Acceptance rate: 13% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $40,783 (Campus grade: B)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $61,700 (Value grade: A-)
Maine: Bowdoin College
- Number of undergraduates: 1,834
- Acceptance rate: 9% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $23,808 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $65,500 (Value grade: A+)
Maryland: Johns Hopkins University
- Number of undergraduates: 5,762
- Acceptance rate: 11% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $28,999 (Campus grade: B)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $73,200 (Value grade: A+)
Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Number of undergraduates: 4,501
- Acceptance rate: 7% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $20,465 (Campus grade: A-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $104,700 (Value grade: A+)
Michigan: University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
- Number of undergraduates: 30,204
- Acceptance rate: 23% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $17,357 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $63,400 (Value grade: A+)
Minnesota: Carleton College
- Number of undergraduates: 2,093
- Acceptance rate: 19% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $31,547 (Campus grade: B-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $54,200 (Value grade: A+)
Mississippi: Mississippi State University
- Number of undergraduates: 17,113
- Acceptance rate: 54% (Academics grade: A)
- Net price: $16,471 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $40,200 (Value grade: B+)
Missouri: Washington University in St. Louis
- Number of undergraduates: 7,139
- Acceptance rate: 14% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $27,108 (Campus grade: A+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $70,100 (Value grade: A+)
Montana: Montana State University
- Number of undergraduates: 12,359
- Acceptance rate: 82% (Academics grade: B+)
- Net price: $16,746 (Campus grade: A-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $43,200 (Value grade: B+)
Nebraska: Creighton University
- Number of undergraduates: 4,325
- Acceptance rate: 74% (Academics grade: A-)
- Net price: $32,145 (Campus grade: C+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $59,700 (Value grade: A)
Nevada: University of Nevada - Reno
- Number of undergraduates: 14,788
- Acceptance rate: 88% (Academics grade: B+)
- Net price: $16,253 (Campus grade: B+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $47,000 (Value grade: B+)
New Hampshire: Dartmouth College
- Number of undergraduates: 4,401
- Acceptance rate: 8% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $23,869 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $75,500 (Value grade: A+)
New Jersey: Princeton University
- Number of undergraduates: 5,328
- Acceptance rate: 6% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $18,712 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $74,700 (Value grade: A+)
New Mexico: New Mexico Tech
- Number of undergraduates: 1,178
- Acceptance rate: 80% (Academics grade: A-)
- Net price: $14,908 (Campus grade: C)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $50,000 (Value grade: A-)
New York: Columbia University
- Number of undergraduates: 7,701
- Acceptance rate: 5% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $21,828 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $83,300 (Value grade: A+)
North Carolina: Duke University
- Number of undergraduates: 6,597
- Acceptance rate: 8% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $24,386 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $84,400 (Value grade: A+)
North Dakota: University of North Dakota
- Number of undergraduates: 7,628
- Acceptance rate: 81% (Academics grade: B+)
- Net price: $15,654 (Campus grade: B-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $48,700 (Value grade: A-)
Ohio: Case Western Reserve University
- Number of undergraduates: 5,237
- Acceptance rate: 27% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $35,890 (Campus grade: C)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $74,600 (Value grade: A+)
Oklahoma: University of Tulsa
- Number of undergraduates: 3,171
- Acceptance rate: 36% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $23,940 (Campus grade: B)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $48,500 (Value grade: A)
Oregon: Reed College
- Number of undergraduates: 1,420
- Acceptance rate: 39% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $32,069 (Campus grade: B)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $42,200 (Value grade: A-)
Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania
- Number of undergraduates: 10,448
- Acceptance rate: 8% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $24,771 (Campus grade: A-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $85,900 (Value grade: A+)
Rhode Island: Brown University
- Number of undergraduates: 6,826
- Acceptance rate: 7% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $27,218 (Campus grade: A-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $67,500 (Value grade: A+)
South Carolina: Clemson University
- Number of undergraduates: 19,486
- Acceptance rate: 51% (Academics grade: A)
- Net price: $21,482 (Campus grade: A-)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $52,400 (Value grade: A)
South Dakota: Augustana University
- Number of undergraduates: 1,727
- Acceptance rate: 67% (Academics grade: A-)
- Net price: $24,481 (Campus grade: B)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $43,700 (Value grade: A)
Tennessee: Vanderbilt University
- Number of undergraduates: 6,833
- Acceptance rate: 9% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $25,855 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $69,000 (Value grade: A+)
Texas: Rice University
- Number of undergraduates: 3,942
- Acceptance rate: 9% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $20,335 (Campus grade: A+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $65,400 (Value grade: A+)
Utah: Brigham Young University
- Number of undergraduates: 28,288
- Acceptance rate: 67% (Academics grade: A)
- Net price: $13,340 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $59,700 (Value grade: A)
Vermont: Middlebury College
- Number of undergraduates: 2,556
- Acceptance rate: 15% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $23,367 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $58,200 (Value grade: A+)
Virginia: Washington and Lee University
- Number of undergraduates: 1,845
- Acceptance rate: 19% (Academics grade: A+)
- Net price: $23,301 (Campus grade: B+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $76,100 (Value grade: A+)
Washington: University of Washington
- Number of undergraduates: 29,332
- Acceptance rate: 52% (Academics grade: A)
- Net price: $10,692 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $57,700 (Value grade: A)
West Virginia: West Virginia University
- Number of undergraduates: 19,369
- Acceptance rate: 84% (Academics grade: B+)
- Net price: $12,743 (Campus grade: B+)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $45,800 (Value grade: B+)
Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin
- Number of undergraduates: 30,157
- Acceptance rate: 54% (Academics grade: A)
- Net price: $16,103 (Campus grade: A)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $56,200 (Value grade: A+)
Wyoming: University of Wyoming
- Number of undergraduates: 8,332
- Acceptance rate: 96% (Academics grade: B+)
- Net price: $12,880 (Campus grade: B)
- Median earnings six years after graduation: $47,300 (Value grade: A-)
