Money Magazine College Rankings: Best Colleges in America 2023

This week, Money Magazine released their list of the best colleges in America based on an analysis of over 700 four-year colleges. Their new methodology places colleges into one of six star ratings (from 2.5 stars to 5 stars) based on data points including graduation rates, cost of attendance, financial aid and alumni salaries. They claim their rating system helps families make decisions about how to invest their tuition dollars.

What do you think?

The three key factors Money Magazine considered: Quality of Education (30% of weighting), Affordability (40% of weighting), and Outcomes (30% of weighting).

Here is their list of 2023-2024’s 5-star colleges:

• Amherst College
• Berea College
• Brown University
• California Institute of Technology
• California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
• Columbia University in the City of New York
• Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
• Cornell University
• Dartmouth College
• Duke University
• Georgetown University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Harvard University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Massachusetts Maritime Academy
• Northwestern University
• Princeton University
• Rice University
• Stanford University
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, San Diego
• University of Chicago
• University of Florida
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• University of Michigan
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Virginia
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Williams College
• Yale University

Perhaps unsurprisingly, tech schools like Georgia Tech and MIT, which produce engineers, tech developers, and computer scientists, topped the charts while colleges known for more creative fields, like Berklee College of Music (2.5 stars), California Institute of the Arts (2.5 stars), Bard College (3 stars), and Sarah Lawrence College (3 stars), lagged behind.

As always, we encourage our students to use these ratings as merely one metric by which to “measure” a college or university. At Top Tier Admissions, we help you identify which factors matter most to you, consider your academic and career goals, and prioritize personal “fit.”