For the second year in a row, Princeton (N.J.) University has been named the top college in America by Forbes, according to the list published in November.
Forbes based its rankings on several key metrics, including alumni salaries, student debt, graduation rates, American leaders award recipients, return on investment, retention rates and academic success. Read more about the methodology here.
The 25 best universities in America in 2024-25:
1. Princeton (N.J.) University
2. Stanford (Calif.) University
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge)
4. Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)
5. University of California, Berkeley
6. Columbia University (New York City)
7. University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
8. Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)
9. Rice University (Houston, Texas)
10. Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.)
11. Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)
12. Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore)
13. University of California, Los Angeles
14. University of Chicago
15. Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tenn.)
16. Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.)
17. Williams College (Williamstown, Mass.)
18. Brown University (Providence, R.I.)
19. Claremont (Calif.) McKenna College
20. Duke University (Durham, N.C.)
21. University of California San Diego
22. California Institute of Technology (Pasadena)
23. Wellesley (Mass.) College
24. Amherst (Mass.) College
25. Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine)