Top 300 universities in the United States: Rankings & Acceptance rate

Rank 🏆	University name	Acceptance rate Acc. rate	City & State
1	Harvard University	5%	Cambridge Massachusetts
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	7%	Cambridge Massachusetts
3	Stanford University	5%	Stanford California
4	University of California - Berkeley	17%	Berkeley California
5	Cornell University	13%	Ithaca New York
6	University of Washington - Seattle Campus	46%	Seattle Washington
7	Columbia University in the City of New York	7%	New York City New York
8	University of California - Los Angeles	16%	Los Angeles California
9	Yale University	7%	New Haven Connecticut
10	Princeton University	6%	Princeton New Jersey

11	Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus	50%	University Park Pennsylvania
12	University of California - Irvine	37%	Irvine California
13	Purdue University - Main Campus	57%	West Lafayette Indiana
14	Duke University	10%	Durham North Carolina
15	Carnegie Mellon University	22%	Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
16	Texas A & M University - College Station	71%	College Station Texas
17	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	27%	Ann Arbor Michigan
18	University of Minnesota	45%	Minneapolis Minnesota
19	University of Wisconsin - Madison	54%	Madison Wisconsin
20	Indiana University - Bloomington	76%	Bloomington Indiana
21	New York University	28%	New York City New York
22	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	24%	Chapel Hill North Carolina
23	University of Pennsylvania	9%	Philadelphia Pennsylvania
24	Michigan State University	72%	East Lansing Michigan
25	University of Maryland - College Park	45%	College Park Maryland
26	Johns Hopkins University	13%	Baltimore Maryland
27	University of Florida	42%	Gainesville Florida
28	Northwestern University	9%	Evanston Illinois
29	The University of Texas at Austin	36%	Austin Texas
30	Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey	65%	New Brunswick New Jersey
31	University of California-San Diego	34%	San Diego California
32	University of Southern California	16%	Los Angeles California
33	University of Chicago	9%	Chicago Illinois
34	University of California - Davis	43%	Davis California
35	University of Arizona	84%	Tucson Arizona
36	Arizona State University - Tempe	84%	Tempe Arizona
37	University of Virginia - Main Campus	27%	Charlottesville Virginia
38	University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign	62%	Champaign Illinois
39	Ohio State University - Main Campus	48%	Columbus Ohio
40	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	51%	Raleigh North Carolina
41	Boston University	25%	Boston Massachusetts
42	University of Colorado Boulder	80%	Boulder Colorado
43	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	70%	Blacksburg Virginia
44	University of Massachusetts - Amherst	58%	Amherst Massachusetts
45	University of Missouri - Columbia	78%	Columbia Missouri
46	Iowa State University	89%	Ames Iowa
47	Washington University in St Louis	16%	St. Louis Missouri
48	Michigan Career and Technical Institute		Plainwell Michigan
49	University of Nebraska - Lincoln	64%	Lincoln Nebraska
50	University of California - Santa Cruz	51%	Santa Cruz California

51	Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus	23%	Atlanta Georgia
52	University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus	60%	Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
53	University of Utah	66%	Salt Lake City Utah
54	University of Georgia	54%	Athens Georgia
55	University of California - Santa Barbara	33%	Santa Barbara California
56	California Institute of Technology	8%	Pasadena California
57	University of Hawaii - System Office		Honolulu Hawaii
58	University of Kentucky	96%	Lexington Kentucky
59	University of California - San Francisco		San Francisco California
60	University of Iowa	86%	Iowa City Iowa
61	Vanderbilt University	11%	Nashville Tennessee
62	Emory University	22%	Atlanta Georgia
63	Florida State University	49%	Tallahassee Florida
64	Colorado State University - Fort Collins	83%	Fort Collins Colorado
65	University of Notre Dame	19%	Notre Dame Indiana
66	University of South Florida - Main Campus	45%	Tampa Florida
67	George Mason University	81%	Fairfax Virginia
68	Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences		Rochester Minnesota
69	Dartmouth College	10%	Hanover New Hampshire
70	Rice University	16%	Houston Texas
71	University of Illinois at Chicago	77%	Chicago Illinois
72	Georgetown University	16%	Washington District of Columbia
73	Washington State University	73%	Pullman Washington
74	Oregon State University	79%	Corvallis Oregon
75	University of Oregon	83%	Eugene Oregon
76	CUNY System Office		New York City New York
77	University of Rochester	34%	Rochester New York
78	Brown University	8%	Providence Rhode Island
79	University of Delaware	63%	Newark Delaware
80	University at Buffalo	57%	Buffalo New York
81	George Washington University	41%	Washington District of Columbia
82	Tufts University	15%	Medford Massachusetts
83	Brigham Young University - Provo	52%	Provo Utah
84	University of Connecticut	48%	Storrs Connecticut
85	The University of Tennessee - Knoxville	77%	Knoxville Tennessee
86	University of New Mexico - Main Campus	67%	Albuquerque New Mexico
87	University of Kansas	93%	Lawrence Kansas
88	University of California - Riverside	57%	Riverside California
89	University of Miami	36%	Coral Gables Florida
90	Boston College	32%	Boston Massachusetts
91	University of Central Florida	50%	Orlando Florida
92	University of South Carolina - Columbia	72%	Columbia South Carolina
93	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	74%	Baton Rouge Louisiana
94	Georgia State University	70%	Atlanta Georgia
95	University of Houston	61%	Houston Texas
96	University of North Texas	72%	Denton Texas
97	University of Cincinnati - Main Campus	76%	Cincinnati Ohio
98	University of Oklahoma - Norman Campus	74%	Norman Oklahoma
99	University of New Hampshire - Main Campus	77%	Durham New Hampshire
100	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	43%	Troy New York

101	University of Alabama at Birmingham	92%	Birmingham Alabama
102	Santa Clara University	54%	Santa Clara California
103	Clemson University	47%	Clemson South Carolina
104	Temple University	57%	Philadelphia Pennsylvania
105	Cleveland Clinic Health System - School of Diagnostic Imaging		Euclid Ohio
106	San Diego State University	35%	San Diego California
107	Utah State University	89%	Logan Utah
108	West Virginia University	72%	Morgantown West Virginia
109	Case Western Reserve University	33%	Cleveland Ohio
110	Drexel University	79%	Philadelphia Pennsylvania
111	Oklahoma State University - Main Campus	74%	Stillwater Oklahoma
112	Auburn University	84%	Auburn Alabama
113	University of West Alabama	28%	Livingston Alabama
114	Virginia Commonwealth University	84%	Richmond Virginia
115	Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis	80%	Indianapolis Indiana
116	American University	29%	Washington District of Columbia
117	Florida International University	54%	Miami Florida
118	Wayne State University	67%	Detroit Michigan
119	Rochester Institute of Technology	57%	Rochester New York
120	The University of Alabama	53%	Tuscaloosa Alabama
121	University of Vermont	67%	Burlington Vermont
122	Texas Tech University	69%	Lubbock Texas
123	University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee	72%	Milwaukee Wisconsin
124	Portland State University	92%	Portland Oregon
125	University of Nevada - Reno	88%	Reno Nevada
126	East Carolina University	79%	Greenville North Carolina
127	SUNY at Albany	54%	Albany New York
128	Gemological Institute of America - Carlsbad		Carlsbad California
129	Kansas State University	94%	Manhattan Kansas
130	The University of Texas at Arlington	71%	Arlington Texas
131	Yeshiva University	63%	New York City New York
132	University of Arkansas	66%	Fayetteville Arkansas
133	Southern Methodist University	49%	Dallas Texas
134	University of Maryland - Baltimore County	60%	Baltimore Maryland
135	University of Maine - System Central Office		Orono Maine
136	Northeastern University	27%	Boston Massachusetts
137	New Mexico State University - Main Campus	64%	Las Cruces New Mexico
138	Kent State University at Kent	88%	Kent Ohio
139	Nova Southeastern University	58%	Fort Lauderdale Florida
140	University of Maryland, Baltimore		Baltimore Maryland
141	Memorial Hospital School of Radiation Therapy Technology		New York City New York
142	Fordham University	46%	New York City New York
143	The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center		Houston Texas
144	Tulane University of Louisiana	21%	New Orleans Louisiana
145	University of Idaho	73%	Moscow Idaho
146	The University of Texas at Dallas	76%	Richardson Texas
147	Northern Arizona University	81%	Flagstaff Arizona
148	Mississippi State University	62%	Mississippi State Mississippi
149	San Francisco State University	70%	San Francisco California
150	University of Alaska System of Higher Education		Fairbanks Alaska

151	Ball State University	62%	Muncie Indiana
152	Oregon Health & Science University	5%	Portland Oregon
153	University of Rhode Island	70%	Kingston Rhode Island
154	Baylor University	39%	Waco Texas
155	City University of Seattle	85%	Seattle Washington
156	University of Louisville	75%	Louisville Kentucky
157	Southern Illinois University - Carbondale	76%	Carbondale Illinois
158	University of Wyoming	97%	Laramie Wyoming
159	Montana State University	83%	Bozeman Montana
160	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus	65%	Denver Colorado
161	California State University - Northridge	58%	Los Angeles California
162	Chicago State University	78%	Chicago Illinois
163	Illinois Institute of Technology	54%	Chicago Illinois
164	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	66%	Charlotte North Carolina
165	The University of Tennessee - Martin	62%	Martin Tennessee
166	Michigan Technological University	74%	Houghton Michigan
167	Northern Illinois University	53%	Dekalb Illinois
168	Western Michigan University	82%	Kalamazoo Michigan
169	The University of Montana	93%	Missoula Montana
170	Old Dominion University	86%	Norfolk Virginia
171	Southeastern University	53%	Lakeland Florida
172	Lehigh University	25%	Bethlehem Pennsylvania
173	College of William and Mary	36%	Williamsburg Virginia
174	Saint Louis University	64%	St. Louis Missouri
175	Brandeis University	34%	Waltham Massachusetts
176	University of Denver	58%	Denver Colorado
177	Binghamton University	40%	Vestal New York
178	Stony Brook University	42%	Stony Brook New York
179	The New School	62%	New York City New York
180	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	48%	Worcester Massachusetts
181	Loyola University Chicago	71%	Chicago Illinois
182	Florida Atlantic University	60%	Boca Raton Florida
183	University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester		Worcester Massachusetts
184	International Technological University		San Jose California
185	The University of Texas at San Antonio	79%	San Antonio Texas
186	University of Nevada - Las Vegas	81%	Las Vegas Nevada
187	University of North Carolina at Greensboro	78%	Greensboro North Carolina
188	Baylor College of Medicine		Houston Texas
189	DePaul University	72%	Chicago Illinois
190	Texas State University	73%	San Marcos Texas
191	North Dakota State University - Main Campus	92%	Fargo North Dakota
192	University of Massachusetts - Boston	75%	Boston Massachusetts
193	University of Missouri - Kansas City	64%	Kansas City Missouri
194	San Jose State University	67%	San Jose California
195	Bowling Green State University - Main Campus	73%	Bowling Green Ohio
196	Ohio University - Main Campus	74%	Athens Ohio
197	University of Mississippi	84%	University Mississippi
198	University of Alaska Fairbanks	77%	Fairbanks Alaska
199	California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo	35%	San Luis Obispo California
200	Pace University	80%	New York City New York

201	Seton Hall University	73%	South Orange New Jersey
202	James Madison University	75%	Harrisonburg Virginia
203	Wake Forest University	28%	Winston-Salem North Carolina
204	California State University - Long Beach	28%	Long Beach California
205	Appalachian State University	70%	Boone North Carolina
206	California State University - Fullerton	46%	Fullerton California
207	Middlebury College	17%	Middlebury Vermont
208	Boise State University	84%	Boise Idaho
209	Marquette University	89%	Milwaukee Wisconsin
210	Swarthmore College	11%	Swarthmore Pennsylvania
211	Carleton College	21%	Northfield Minnesota
212	University of Richmond	33%	Richmond Virginia
213	Idaho State University	85%	Pocatello Idaho
214	University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center		Dallas Texas
215	The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio	45%	San Antonio Texas
216	University of Northern Iowa	81%	Cedar Falls Iowa
217	University of San Francisco	66%	San Francisco California
218	University of Maine	92%	Orono Maine
219	University of Jamestown	65%	Jamestown North Dakota
220	New Jersey Institute of Technology	61%	Newark New Jersey
221	University of Memphis	85%	Memphis Tennessee
222	Pepperdine University	40%	Malibu California
223	Clark Atlanta University	58%	Atlanta Georgia
224	Liberty University	30%	Lynchburg Virginia
225	Northcentral University		San Diego California
226	Medical College of Wisconsin		Milwaukee Wisconsin
227	Alhambra Medical University		Alhambra California
228	The University of Texas at El Paso	100%	El Paso Texas
229	Berklee College of Music	53%	Boston Massachusetts
230	University of Pittsburgh Medical Center - Shadyside School of Nursing	100%	Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
231	University of Colorado System Office		Denver Colorado
232	American Film Institute Conservatory		Los Angeles California
233	University of Akron Main Campus	93%	Akron Ohio
234	School of Professional Horticulture, New York Botanical Garden	100%	New York City New York
235	University of Massachusetts - Lowell	69%	Lowell Massachusetts
236	La Salle University	79%	Philadelphia Pennsylvania
237	Medical University of South Carolina		Charleston South Carolina
238	Rockefeller University		New York City New York
239	Wright State University - Main Campus	97%	Dayton Ohio
240	University of Southern Mississippi	98%	Hattiesburg Mississippi
241	Quinnipiac University	74%	Hamden Connecticut
242	University of Western States	75%	Portland Oregon
243	University of New England	81%	Biddeford Maine
244	The University of Texas Medical Branch		Galveston Texas
245	Villanova University	36%	Villanova Pennsylvania
246	University of Toledo	94%	Toledo Ohio
247	Thomas Jefferson University		Philadelphia Pennsylvania
248	Western Washington University	85%	Bellingham Washington
249	Grand Valley State University	81%	Allendale Michigan
250	University of Central Arkansas	90%	Conway Arkansas

251	Western Kentucky University	95%	Bowling Green Kentucky
252	Smith College	32%	Northampton Massachusetts
253	University of Dayton	72%	Dayton Ohio
254	Creighton University	72%	Omaha Nebraska
255	Vassar College	24%	Poughkeepsie New York
256	University of Nebraska Medical Center		Omaha Nebraska
257	Hawaii Pacific University	75%	Honolulu Hawaii
258	University of Wisconsin Extension		Madison Wisconsin
259	Colorado School of Mines	56%	Golden Colorado
260	Hofstra University	64%	Hempstead New York
261	California State University - Sacramento	68%	Sacramento California
262	Williams College	15%	Williamstown Massachusetts
263	Bryn Mawr College	38%	Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania
264	University of Illinois at Springfield	52%	Springfield Illinois
265	Wichita State University	94%	Wichita Kansas
266	Missouri University of Science and Technology	84%	Rolla Missouri
267	Naval Postgraduate School		Monterey California
268	Bucknell University	31%	Lewisburg Pennsylvania
269	Wesleyan University	16%	Middletown Connecticut
270	University of North Dakota	83%	Grand Forks North Dakota
271	University of California-System Administration Central Office		Oakland California
272	Wellesley College	22%	Wellesley Massachusetts
273	University of Puerto Rico - Central Administration		San Juan Puerto Rico
274	Loyola Marymount University	52%	Los Angeles California
275	California State University - Chico	68%	Chico California
276	University of Nebraska at Omaha	87%	Omaha Nebraska
277	University of West Georgia	59%	Carrollton Georgia
278	Babson College	24%	Wellesley Massachusetts
279	University of Missouri - St Louis	76%	St. Louis Missouri
280	University of San Diego	50%	San Diego California
281	Texas Christian University	41%	Fort Worth Texas
282	Harvey Mudd College	15%	Claremont California
283	Miami University - Oxford	68%	Oxford Ohio
284	Oakland University	84%	Rochester Hills Michigan
285	University of Illinois University Administration		Urbana Illinois
286	Calvin College	83%	Grand Rapids Michigan
287	Chapman University	57%	Orange California
288	University of Alabama in Huntsville	81%	Huntsville Alabama
289	Central Michigan University	68%	Mount Pleasant Michigan
290	North Carolina Central University	83%	Durham North Carolina
291	Oberlin College	34%	Oberlin Ohio
292	Georgia Southern University	68%	Statesboro Georgia
293	Middle Tennessee State University	59%	Murfreesboro Tennessee
294	Cleveland State University	90%	Cleveland Ohio
295	Teachers College at Columbia University		New York City New York
296	Florida Institute of Technology	63%	Melbourne Florida
297	Towson University	77%	Towson Maryland
298	Marist College	43%	Poughkeepsie New York
299	Kennesaw State University	61%	Kennesaw Georgia
300	Claremont Graduate University		Claremont California

The best cities to study in the United States based on the number of universities and their ranks are Cambridge, Stanford, Berkeley, and Ithaca.

Average cost of living for students in the United States is $729 + $164-1171 for rent (depends on where to live: dormitory, renting with a roommate or solo).