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Best Colleges in Big Cities

Top-performing schools in urban settings, ranked by graduation rate and 10-year earnings.

1

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA · Private

Grad98%Net Price$18k/yr10yr Earnings$102kMedian Debt$14kAcceptance4%
2

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ · Private

Grad98%Net Price$15k/yr10yr Earnings$110kMedian Debt$10kAcceptance5%
3

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA · Private

Grad97%Net Price$24k/yr10yr Earnings$111kMedian Debt$16kAcceptance5%
4

Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing

New York, NY · Private

Grad100%10yr Earnings$97kMedian Debt$20k
5

Yale University

New Haven, CT · Private

Grad96%Net Price$22k/yr10yr Earnings$101kMedian Debt$13kAcceptance4%
6

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA · Private

Grad96%Net Price$21k/yr10yr Earnings$143kMedian Debt$15kAcceptance5%
7

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY · Private

Grad96%Net Price$23k/yr10yr Earnings$102kMedian Debt$22kAcceptance4%
8

Georgetown University

Washington, DC · Private

Grad95%Net Price$39k/yr10yr Earnings$103kMedian Debt$16kAcceptance13%
9

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY · Private

Grad95%Net Price$26k/yr10yr Earnings$104kMedian Debt$14kAcceptance9%
10

Duke University

Durham, NC · Private

Grad97%Net Price$22k/yr10yr Earnings$98kMedian Debt$13kAcceptance6%
11

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA · Private

Grad94%Net Price$15k/yr10yr Earnings$129kAcceptance3%
12

Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus

Atlanta, GA · Public

Grad94%Net Price$16k/yr10yr Earnings$103kMedian Debt$22kAcceptance14%
13

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA · Private

Grad94%Net Price$36k/yr10yr Earnings$115kMedian Debt$22kAcceptance12%
14

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA · Private

Grad91%Net Price$33k/yr10yr Earnings$104kMedian Debt$19kAcceptance16%
15

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester, MA · Private

Grad90%Net Price$47k/yr10yr Earnings$103kMedian Debt$27kAcceptance60%
16

Brown University

Providence, RI · Private

Grad96%Net Price$26k/yr10yr Earnings$93kMedian Debt$11kAcceptance5%
17

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA · Private

Grad88%Net Price$54k/yr10yr Earnings$109kMedian Debt$19kAcceptance48%
18

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA · Private

Grad88%Net Price$34k/yr10yr Earnings$106kMedian Debt$22kAcceptance26%
19

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL · Private

Grad96%Net Price$28k/yr10yr Earnings$92kMedian Debt$15kAcceptance5%
20

Bentley University

Waltham, MA · Private

Grad87%Net Price$46k/yr10yr Earnings$121kMedian Debt$25kAcceptance45%
21

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN · Private

Grad94%Net Price$25k/yr10yr Earnings$92kMedian Debt$14kAcceptance6%
22

University of California-Berkeley

Berkeley, CA · Public

Grad93%Net Price$17k/yr10yr Earnings$92kMedian Debt$13kAcceptance11%
23

Rice University

Houston, TX · Private

Grad95%Net Price$24k/yr10yr Earnings$90kMedian Debt$11kAcceptance8%
24

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA · Private

Grad92%Net Price$43k/yr10yr Earnings$92kMedian Debt$18kAcceptance10%
25

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL · Private

Grad95%Net Price$27k/yr10yr Earnings$89kMedian Debt$15kAcceptance8%
26

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY · Private

Grad84%Net Price$39k/yr10yr Earnings$102kMedian Debt$24kAcceptance64%
27

Northeastern University

Boston, MA · Private

Grad91%Net Price$34k/yr10yr Earnings$93kMedian Debt$24kAcceptance5%
28

Jewish Theological Seminary of America

New York, NY · Private

Grad90%Net Price$58k/yr10yr Earnings$93kAcceptance49%
29

St. Joseph's College of Nursing

Syracuse, NY · Private

Grad100%Net Price$18k/yr10yr Earnings$82kMedian Debt$12kAcceptance100%
30

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD · Private

Grad94%Net Price$26k/yr10yr Earnings$88kMedian Debt$10kAcceptance6%

How this list is built

Schools in IPEDS city locales (codes 11-13), ranked by graduation rate and 10-year earnings. For-profit schools are not included, and each list shows at most 30 schools.

Locale data: IPEDS HD. Graduation rate: IPEDS. Earnings: College Scorecard.

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Locale data: IPEDS HD. Graduation rate: IPEDS. Earnings: College Scorecard. Rankings reflect available data and do not constitute endorsement.

Best Colleges in Big Cities. Locale data: IPEDS HD. Graduation rate: IPEDS. Earnings: College Scorecard. Schools in IPEDS city locales (codes 11-13), ranked by graduation rate and 10-year earnings. For-profit schools are not included, and each list shows at most 30 schools.