2026 Best Private Colleges

Name: 2026 Best Private Colleges (Kollegio college rankings)
Creator: Kollegio
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

862 U.S. schools ranked in Kollegio's 2026 Best Private Colleges ranking, based on U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data.

Showing 1–25 of 862 colleges · How we rank colleges

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West Coast

Cost of attendance after aid

ⓘ

$77,180

Institution type

2 Year4 Year5 Year

Field of study

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Campus Detail

Institution setting

AllCitySuburbanRural

Undergraduate enrollment

ⓘ

268763

Financial

Alumni starting salary

Tuition cost

ⓘ

$67,000

In-state tuition

ⓘ

Proportion of need based aid received

ⓘ

100%Clear Filter

International students received aid

ⓘ

100%

Average aid package

ⓘ

$82,308

Application fee

ⓘ

$150

Academics

Mean GPA

ⓘ

Mean SAT

ⓘ

1200

Mean ACT

ⓘ

#1 Best Private Colleges

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge

Acceptance rate

4.7%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$55,510

Avg. Cost after Aid

$31,000

#2 Best Private Colleges

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

Acceptance rate

5.9%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$54,652

Avg. Cost after Aid

$15,000

#3 Best Private Colleges

Harvard University

Cambridge

Acceptance rate

3.5%

Institution type

4YEAR

Total Tuition Cost

$51,143

Avg. Cost after Aid

$13,872

#4 Best Private Colleges

Princeton University

Princeton

Acceptance rate

4.5%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$56,010

Avg. Cost after Aid

$21,000

#5 Best Private Colleges

Yale University

New Haven

Acceptance rate

4.5%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$59,950

Avg. Cost after Aid

$21,000

#6 Best Private Colleges

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena

Acceptance rate

3.1%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$56,364

Avg. Cost after Aid

$30,000

#7 Best Private Colleges

Stanford University

Stanford

Acceptance rate

3.9%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$55,473

Avg. Cost after Aid

$14,000

#8 Best Private Colleges

Brown University

Providence

Acceptance rate

5.2%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$60,944

Avg. Cost after Aid

$25,000

#9 Best Private Colleges

Cornell University

Ithaca

Acceptance rate

8.2%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$60,286

Avg. Cost after Aid

$24,000

#10 Best Private Colleges

Dartmouth College

Hanover

Acceptance rate

6.2%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$58,953

Avg. Cost after Aid

$24,000

#11 Best Private Colleges

Columbia University School of General Studies

New York

Acceptance rate

4.2%

Institution type

COMP

Total Tuition Cost

$59,450

Avg. Cost after Aid

N/A

#12 Best Private Colleges

The University of Chicago

Chicago

Acceptance rate

4.5%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$59,256

Avg. Cost after Aid

$34,000

#13 Best Private Colleges

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame

Acceptance rate

12.4%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$58,336

Avg. Cost after Aid

$31,000

#14 Best Private Colleges

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont

Acceptance rate

13.1%

Institution type

4YEAR

Total Tuition Cost

$60,402

Avg. Cost after Aid

$34,000

#15 Best Private Colleges

Duke University

Durham

Acceptance rate

6.8%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$58,085

Avg. Cost after Aid

$27,000

#16 Best Private Colleges

Claremont McKenna College

Claremont

Acceptance rate

11.1%

Institution type

COMP

Total Tuition Cost

$57,876

Avg. Cost after Aid

$22,000

#17 Best Private Colleges

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh

Acceptance rate

11.4%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$57,560

Avg. Cost after Aid

$37,000

#18 Best Private Colleges

Georgetown University

Washington

Acceptance rate

13.1%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$59,784

Avg. Cost after Aid

$23,000

#19 Best Private Colleges

Rice University

Houston

Acceptance rate

7.9%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$52,070

Avg. Cost after Aid

$12,640

#20 Best Private Colleges

Northwestern University

Evanston

Acceptance rate

7.1%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$60,276

Avg. Cost after Aid

$30,000

#21 Best Private Colleges

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore

Acceptance rate

7.6%

Institution type

4YEAR

Total Tuition Cost

$58,720

Avg. Cost after Aid

$21,000

#22 Best Private Colleges

Northeastern University

Boston

Acceptance rate

5.7%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$56,500

Avg. Cost after Aid

$39,000

#23 Best Private Colleges

Vanderbilt University

Nashville

Acceptance rate

6.3%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$54,840

Avg. Cost after Aid

$28,000

#24 Best Private Colleges

Williams College

Williamstown

Acceptance rate

10.0%

Institution type

COMP

Total Tuition Cost

$59,350

Avg. Cost after Aid

$14,000

#25 Best Private Colleges

University of Southern California

Los Angeles

Acceptance rate

10.0%

Institution type

UNIV

Total Tuition Cost

$60,446

Avg. Cost after Aid

$26,000

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