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COLLEGE RANKINGS
The Most Selective Colleges in the US (2026)
The full reach-school landscape in one table: every US college admitting fewer than one in five applicants, with the test scores and outcomes data to judge whether the selectivity is worth chasing.
Methodology: Acceptance rate below 20%, at least 1,000 undergraduates. Sorted from most to least selective. Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard. Always verify current figures on each school's official site.
| # | College | Location | Acceptance rate | Acceptance | Tuition (out-of-state) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford University | Stanford, California | 3.6% | 3.6% | $65,910 |
| 2 | Harvard University | Cambridge, Massachusetts | 3.6% | 3.6% | $61,676 |
| 3 | Yale University | New Haven, Connecticut | 3.9% | 3.9% | $67,250 |
| 4 | Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, New York | 4.0% | 4.0% | $71,845 |
| 5 | University of Chicago | Chicago, Illinois | 4.5% | 4.5% | $70,662 |
| 6 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, Massachusetts | 4.5% | 4.5% | $62,396 |
| 7 | Princeton University | Princeton, New Jersey | 4.6% | 4.6% | $62,688 |
| 8 | Northeastern University | Boston, Massachusetts | 5.2% | 5.2% | $66,162 |
| 9 | Brown University | Providence, Rhode Island | 5.4% | 5.4% | $71,412 |
| 10 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 5.4% | 5.4% | $68,686 |
| 11 | Dartmouth College | Hanover, New Hampshire | 5.4% | 5.4% | $68,268 |
| 12 | Duke University | Durham, North Carolina | 5.7% | 5.7% | $68,758 |
| 13 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Tennessee | 5.9% | 5.9% | $67,498 |
| 14 | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, Maryland | 6.4% | 6.4% | $65,230 |
| 15 | Colby College | Waterville, Maine | 7.1% | 7.1% | $69,600 |
| 16 | Pomona College | Claremont, California | 7.1% | 7.1% | $65,420 |
| 17 | Bowdoin College | Brunswick, Maine | 7.1% | 7.1% | $67,832 |
| 18 | Swarthmore College | Swarthmore, Pennsylvania | 7.5% | 7.5% | $65,494 |
| 19 | Northwestern University | Evanston, Illinois | 7.7% | 7.7% | $68,322 |
| 20 | Rice University | Houston, Texas | 8.0% | 8.0% | $64,144 |
| 21 | Williams College | Williamstown, Massachusetts | 8.3% | 8.3% | $68,560 |
| 22 | Cornell University | Ithaca, New York | 8.8% | 8.8% | $69,314 |
| 23 | Barnard College | New York, New York | 8.8% | 8.8% | $69,888 |
| 24 | University of California-Los Angeles | Los Angeles, California | 9.0% | 9.0% | $49,403 |
| 25 | Amherst College | Amherst, Massachusetts | 9.0% | 9.0% | $70,480 |
| 26 | New York University | New York, New York | 9.2% | 9.2% | $62,796 |
| 27 | United States Naval Academy | Annapolis, Maryland | 9.3% | 9.3% | — |
| 28 | Claremont McKenna College | Claremont, California | 9.6% | 9.6% | $67,980 |
| 29 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles, California | 9.8% | 9.8% | $72,097 |
| 30 | Stanbridge University | Irvine, California | 10.0% | 10.0% | — |
| 31 | Emory University | Atlanta, Georgia | 10.7% | 10.7% | $64,280 |
| 32 | Middlebury College | Middlebury, Vermont | 10.8% | 10.8% | $67,600 |
| 33 | University of California-Berkeley | Berkeley, California | 11.0% | 11.0% | $50,547 |
| 34 | Boston University | Boston, Massachusetts | 11.1% | 11.1% | $68,102 |
| 35 | University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, Indiana | 11.3% | 11.3% | $65,025 |
| 36 | Tufts University | Medford, Massachusetts | 11.5% | 11.5% | $70,704 |
| 37 | Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 11.7% | 11.7% | $66,246 |
| 38 | College of the Ozarks | Point Lookout, Missouri | 12.0% | 12.0% | $22,320 |
| 39 | Washington University in St Louis | St. Louis, Missouri | 12.1% | 12.1% | $65,790 |
| 40 | Haverford College | Haverford, Pennsylvania | 12.4% | 12.4% | $70,688 |
| 41 | United States Military Academy | West Point, New York | 12.4% | 12.4% | — |
| 42 | Georgetown University | Washington, Washington, D.C. | 12.9% | 12.9% | $68,017 |
| 43 | Bates College | Lewiston, Maine | 13.3% | 13.3% | $66,590 |
| 44 | Davidson College | Davidson, North Carolina | 13.4% | 13.4% | $64,410 |
| 45 | Hamilton College | Clinton, New York | 13.6% | 13.6% | $68,960 |
| 46 | Colgate University | Hamilton, New York | 13.9% | 13.9% | $70,306 |
| 47 | Washington and Lee University | Lexington, Virginia | 14.0% | 14.0% | $68,045 |
| 48 | Tulane University of Louisiana | New Orleans, Louisiana | 14.0% | 14.0% | $68,678 |
| 49 | Wellesley College | Wellesley, Massachusetts | 14.1% | 14.1% | $67,176 |
| 50 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | Atlanta, Georgia | 14.1% | 14.1% | $34,484 |
| 51 | United States Air Force Academy | USAF Academy, Colorado | 14.1% | 14.1% | — |
| 52 | Grinnell College | Grinnell, Iowa | 14.5% | 14.5% | $68,106 |
| 53 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, North Carolina | 15.3% | 15.3% | $41,203 |
| 54 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor, Michigan | 15.6% | 15.6% | $60,946 |
| 55 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts | 16.4% | 16.4% | $70,702 |
| 56 | Wesleyan University | Middletown, Connecticut | 16.5% | 16.5% | $70,342 |
| 57 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | Charlottesville, Virginia | 16.8% | 16.8% | $59,512 |
| 58 | Babson College | Wellesley, Massachusetts | 17.1% | 17.1% | $57,152 |
| 59 | Denison University | Granville, Ohio | 17.4% | 17.4% | $67,000 |
| 60 | College of the Holy Cross | Worcester, Massachusetts | 17.6% | 17.6% | $64,500 |
| 61 | Colorado College | Colorado Springs, Colorado | 18.5% | 18.5% | $70,734 |
| 62 | Vassar College | Poughkeepsie, New York | 18.6% | 18.6% | $71,030 |
| 63 | Rhode Island School of Design | Providence, Rhode Island | 18.7% | 18.7% | $62,688 |
| 64 | University of Miami | Coral Gables, Florida | 18.9% | 18.9% | $62,616 |
| 65 | Berea College | Berea, Kentucky | 19.3% | 19.3% | $51,658 |
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