The University of Virginia
FORBES’ TOP 50
The top 50 colleges and universities in Forbes’ 2027 America’s Top Colleges ranking are listed below, alongside their positions in the previous edition.
2027 Rank |
2026 Rank |
Change |
University / College |
State |
Type |
Avg. Grant Aid |
Avg. Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MA | Private | $61,734 | $11,176 |
| 2 | 3 | +1 | Princeton University | NJ | Private | $68,727 | $9,046 |
| 3 | 6 | +3 | Harvard University | MA | Private | $68,015 | $12,445 |
| 4 | 2 | -2 | Columbia University | NY | Private | $67,010 | $17,037 |
| 5 | 10 | +5 | University of Pennsylvania | PA | Private | $65,458 | $11,278 |
| 6 | 4 | -2 | Stanford University | CA | Private | $62,755 | $11,418 |
| 7 | 24 | +17 | California Institute of Technology | CA | Private | $72,373 | $11,846 |
| 8 | 9 | +1 | Yale University | CT | Private | $65,892 | $5,119 |
| 9 | 5 | -4 | University of California, Berkeley | CA | Public | $29,608 | $5,924 |
| 10 | 11 | +1 | Vanderbilt University | TN | Private | $64,404 | $12,263 |
| 11 | 8 | -3 | Johns Hopkins University | MD | Private | $59,977 | $11,969 |
| 12 | 15 | +3 | University of California, Los Angeles | CA | Public | $25,627 | $7,079 |
| 13 | 22 | +9 | Duke University | NC | Private | $65,522 | $11,454 |
| 14 | 14 | 0 | Cornell University | NY | Private | $61,779 | $9,964 |
| 15 | 16 | +1 | Northwestern University | IL | Private | $64,429 | $7,318 |
| 16 | 12 | -4 | Rice University | TX | Private | $56,199 | $10,792 |
| 17 | 13 | -4 | University of Chicago | IL | Private | $62,300 | $17,312 |
| 18 | 18 | 0 | Brown University | RI | Private | $61,392 | $12,431 |
| 19 | 7 | -12 | Williams College | MA | Private | $68,966 | $10,614 |
| 20 | 17 | -3 | Dartmouth College | NH | Private | $67,471 | $6,587 |
| 21 | 21 | 0 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | MI | Public | $25,099 | $9,903 |
| 22 | 20 | -2 | University of California, San Diego | CA | Public | $25,757 | $5,557 |
| 23 | 33 | +10 | University of Notre Dame | IN | Private | $53,971 | $7,950 |
| 24 | 39 | +15 | Bowdoin College | ME | Private | $62,872 | $11,912 |
| 25 | 43 | +18 | Carnegie Mellon University | PA | Private | $48,107 | $8,203 |
| 26 | 28 | +2 | University of Southern California | CA | Private | $46,897 | $9,000 |
| 27 | 32 | +5 | Georgia Institute of Technology | GA | Public | $13,842 | $7,256 |
| 28 | 34 | +6 | University of Virginia | VA | Public | $28,715 | $8,794 |
| 29 | 36 | +7 | Pomona College | CA | Private | $65,362 | $12,142 |
| 30 | 19 | -11 | Amherst College | MA | Private | $68,591 | $11,811 |
| 31 | 41 | +10 | Georgetown University | DC | Private | $49,658 | $9,840 |
| 32 | 50 | +18 | University of Washington, Seattle | WA | Public | $16,156 | $7,651 |
| 33 | 38 | +5 | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | IL | Public | $19,299 | $6,759 |
| 34 | 30 | -4 | University of Florida | FL | Public | $10,846 | $6,988 |
| 35 | 26 | -9 | Claremont McKenna College | CA | Private | $52,605 | $8,411 |
| 36 | 44 | +8 | University of California, Davis | CA | Public | $24,591 | $5,827 |
| 37 | 31 | -6 | University of California, Irvine | CA | Public | $23,110 | $6,055 |
| 38 | 45 | +7 | Boston University | MA | Private | $61,848 | $10,796 |
| 39 | 42 | +3 | University of California, Santa Barbara | CA | Public | $24,695 | $7,653 |
| 40 | 29 | -11 | Wellesley College | MA | Private | $64,116 | $5,240 |
| 41 | 27 | -14 | Emory University | GA | Private | $56,319 | $10,331 |
| 42 | 46 | +4 | University of Texas, Austin | TX | Public | $13,681 | $6,066 |
| 43 | 47 | +4 | Washington and Lee University | VA | Private | $63,945 | $9,917 |
| 44 | 37 | -7 | University of Maryland, College Park | MD | Public | $12,867 | $9,844 |
| 45 | 25 | -20 | Washington University in St. Louis | MO | Private | $66,080 | $10,843 |
| 46 | 49 | +3 | New York University | NY | Private | $53,901 | $11,177 |
| 47 | 52 | +5 | Middlebury College | VT | Private | $59,647 | $6,814 |
| 48 | 48 | 0 | Colgate University | NY | Private | $58,334 | $8,579 |
| 49 | 35 | -14 | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | NC | Public | $17,814 | $6,917 |
| 50 | 23 | -27 | Swarthmore College | PA | Private | $61,634 | $13,019 |
See Forbes’ full list of 500 colleges here.
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