The Colleges That Appear on the Most Lists
Counting every ranking on this site, these institutions turn up most often. Appearing frequently reflects reporting completeness and extremes on individual measures — it is not a quality score.
Ranked by number of list appearances · 672 of 2,406 institutions report this measure · Compiled 2026-09-01
Chase these schools
Top schools on this list that also show up elsewhere — hop lists without leaving the trail.
#1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
#2
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
#3
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
- 1Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, MA · Private16Compare nearby
Also on 16 other lists
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#1
- Biological Sciences#1
- Business#1
- Liberal Arts#1
- Multidisciplinary Studies#2
- Physical Sciences#2
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#3
- the Highest SAT Averages#4
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#5
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#6
- Most Selective Colleges in America#7
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#8
- Computer Science#10
- Engineering#11
- Mathematics & Statistics#12
- Are Least Likely to Leave#14
- 2Cornell UniversityIthaca, NY · Private16Compare nearby
Also on 16 other lists
- Public Administration#1
- Mathematics & Statistics#11
- Psychology#11
- Communications#13
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#17
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#19
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#19
- Computer Science#20
- the Highest ACT Scores#21
- Architecture#21
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#22
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#23
- Are Least Likely to Leave#23
- the Highest SAT Averages#23
- Most Selective Colleges in America#23
- Area & Ethnic Studies#25
- 3University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA · Private16Compare nearby
Also on 16 other lists
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#2
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#4
- Communications#4
- Mathematics & Statistics#4
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#5
- Multidisciplinary Studies#5
- Business#9
- History#10
- the Highest SAT Averages#11
- Most Selective Colleges in America#11
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#12
- Engineering#12
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#17
- Computer Science#18
- Are Least Likely to Leave#20
- Social Sciences#22
- 4Stanford UniversityStanford, CA · Private16Compare nearby
Also on 16 other lists
- Computer Science#2
- Biological Sciences#3
- Engineering Technology#3
- Most Selective Colleges in America#3
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#4
- Psychology#6
- the Highest SAT Averages#6
- the Highest ACT Scores#7
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#7
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#7
- Area & Ethnic Studies#8
- Social Sciences#8
- Engineering#10
- English Language & Literature#18
- Multidisciplinary Studies#22
- Are Least Likely to Leave#24
- 5Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York, NY · Private15Compare nearby
Also on 15 other lists
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#3
- the Highest ACT Scores#4
- Most Selective Colleges in America#4
- Foreign Languages#5
- the Highest SAT Averages#8
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#9
- History#16
- Mathematics & Statistics#16
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#18
- Area & Ethnic Studies#19
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#21
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#25
- Computer Science#25
- Social Sciences#25
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#25
- 6Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT · Private14Compare nearby
Also on 14 other lists
- History#1
- English Language & Literature#5
- Most Selective Colleges in America#5
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#7
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#7
- Computer Science#9
- Social Sciences#9
- Multidisciplinary Studies#10
- the Highest ACT Scores#11
- Are Least Likely to Leave#15
- the Highest SAT Averages#15
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#16
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#17
- Psychology#24
- 7Harvard UniversityCambridge, MA · Private14Compare nearby
Also on 14 other lists
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#2
- Most Selective Colleges in America#2
- the Highest ACT Scores#3
- Psychology#3
- the Highest SAT Averages#3
- Biological Sciences#4
- Computer Science#4
- Mathematics & Statistics#6
- English Language & Literature#8
- History#8
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#10
- Are Least Likely to Leave#18
- Social Sciences#21
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#24
- 8Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, PA · Private13Compare nearby
Also on 13 other lists
- Social Sciences#2
- Business#3
- Visual & Performing Arts#3
- Multidisciplinary Studies#4
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#6
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#6
- Mathematics & Statistics#8
- Physical Sciences#8
- the Highest SAT Averages#10
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#11
- Architecture#12
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#13
- Computer Science#19
- 9Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL · Private12Compare nearby
Also on 12 other lists
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#1
- the Highest ACT Scores#2
- Public Administration#8
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#11
- Physical Sciences#13
- Most Selective Colleges in America#18
- Foreign Languages#19
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#20
- the Highest SAT Averages#21
- Engineering#23
- Legal Professions#24
- Communications#25
- 10Dartmouth CollegeHanover, NH · Private12Compare nearby
Also on 12 other lists
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#1
- Physical Sciences#1
- Mathematics & Statistics#3
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#9
- History#11
- Most Selective Colleges in America#12
- Computer Science#14
- English Language & Literature#14
- the Highest SAT Averages#16
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#17
- the Highest ACT Scores#19
- Are Least Likely to Leave#25
- 11Princeton UniversityPrinceton, NJ · Private12Compare nearby
Also on 12 other lists
- Engineering#1
- English Language & Literature#1
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#3
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#3
- Most Selective Colleges in America#6
- Public Administration#10
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#11
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#14
- the Highest SAT Averages#14
- Psychology#15
- the Highest ACT Scores#20
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#24
- 12University of ChicagoChicago, IL · Private11Compare nearby
Also on 11 other lists
- the Highest SAT Averages#1
- Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price#2
- Most Selective Colleges in America#8
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#8
- Mathematics & Statistics#9
- Public Administration#9
- the Highest ACT Scores#13
- Are Least Likely to Leave#13
- Psychology#14
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#19
- Natural Resources#22
- 13University of Notre DameNotre Dame, IN · Private11Compare nearby
- 14Duke UniversityDurham, NC · Private11Compare nearby
- 15Georgetown UniversityWashington, DC · Private10Compare nearby
- 16Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA · Private10Compare nearby
- 17Brown UniversityProvidence, RI · Private10Compare nearby
- 18Harvey Mudd CollegeClaremont, CA · Private9Compare nearby
Also on 9 other lists
- 19Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara, CA · Private9Compare nearby
- 20Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, MD · Private9Compare nearby
- 21Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, MA · Private9Compare nearby
- 22American Public University SystemCharles Town, WV · For-profit9Compare nearby
- 23University of California-BerkeleyBerkeley, CA · Public8Compare nearby
- 24Trinity CollegeHartford, CT · Private8Compare nearby
- 25University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi, MD · Public8Compare nearby
How this list was built
- Measure
- Number of list appearances — sorted highest to lowest
- Source variable
Derived from the lists on this site- Dataset
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most-Recent-Cohorts-Institution (05-19-2025 release)
- Derived from the other rankings published here, so it changes whenever they do.
- A college can appear for unflattering reasons — highest cost and highest acceptance rate both count.
A single measure is a narrow way to judge a college. Read this alongside the others, and see the methodology for what these figures do and do not capture.
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Keep going
Colleges Whose Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out
Median earnings a decade after students first enrolled — the longest earnings horizon the College Scorecard publishes.
The Most Selective Colleges in America
Lowest share of applicants admitted. Selectivity measures demand and class size, not teaching quality.
Best Earnings Return per Dollar of Cost
Ten-year median earnings divided by annual cost of attendance. A blunt ratio of two published figures, not a return-on-investment model.