2022 best colleges in the United States 
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National Universities
Net cost: The median annual cost of all students that receive any aid. This does not refer to the “sticker price”, the price listed by the college.
Earnings: The median earnings of all bachelor-level students 10 years after enrollment. This includes both students that do and do not graduate, across all majors.
Payback: The amount of time in years it takes to pay off the median net cost by the median earnings. For this calculation, the median earning of high school graduates (in the school’s home state) are deducted from the median earnings.
Degree premium: The difference between the school’s median earnings and the median earnings for all schools in the same state. This is called “Vs. state average” in school profiles below.
Ranking: The payback rate is divided by the degree premium (set as a percentage), the lower the number the higher the rank. (i.e. payback=1, degree premium 20% higher than state school median: 1/120% = .883.
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey
Admission rate: 6%
Grad rate: 97%
Net cost: $11,317
Payback: Under a year
Earnings: $95,689
Vs. state average: + $50,066
Economic score: 0.31
Go to School
Stanford University
Stanford, California
Admission rate: 6%
Grad rate: 96%
Net cost: $11,496
Payback: Under a year
Earnings: $97,798
Vs. state average: + $47,119
Economic score: 0.36
Go to School
CUNY City College
New York, New York
Admission rate: 51%
Grad rate: 54%
Net cost: $2,385
Payback: Under 6 months
Earnings: $55,741
Vs. state average: + $51
Economic score: 0.37
Go to School
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Admission rate: 32%
Grad rate: 88%
Net cost: $6,302
Payback: Under a year
Earnings: $64,463
Vs. state average: + $19,742
Economic score: 0.45
Go to School
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
Atlanta, Georgia
Admission rate: 22%
Grad rate: 90%
Net cost: $14,739
Payback: 1.0 Years
Earnings: $88,196
Vs. state average: + $46,303
Economic score: 0.49
Go to School
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Admission rate: 8%
Grad rate: 96%
Net cost: $16,636
Payback: Under a year
Earnings: $111,222
Vs. state average: + $43,464
Economic score: 0.50
Go to School
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California
Admission rate: 7%
Grad rate: 93%
Net cost: $24,274
Payback: 1.2 Years
Earnings: $112,166
Vs. state average: + $61,487
Economic score: 0.52
Go to School
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Admission rate: 27%
Grad rate: 93%
Net cost: $15,336
Payback: 1.2 Years
Earnings: $75,842
Vs. state average: + $31,796
Economic score: 0.70
Go to School
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
Admission rate: 8%
Grad rate: 96%
Net cost: $27,020
Payback: 1.6 Years
Earnings: $93,115
Vs. state average: + $51,044
Economic score: 0.70
Go to School
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Admission rate: 9%
Grad rate: 97%
Net cost: $25,802
Payback: 1.4 Years
Earnings: $103,246
Vs. state average: + $49,668
Economic score: 0.71
Go to School
University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Admission rate: 18%
Grad rate: 93%
Net cost: $15,329
Payback: 1.2 Years
Earnings: $80,364
Vs. state average: + $29,685
Economic score: 0.74
Go to School
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Rolla, Missouri
Admission rate: 82%
Grad rate: 68%
Net cost: $14,262
Payback: 1.3 Years
Earnings: $80,289
Vs. state average: + $32,969
Economic score: 0.74
Go to School
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
Admission rate: 12%
Grad rate: 94%
Net cost: $19,432
Payback: 1.4 Years
Earnings: $79,872
Vs. state average: + $36,117
Economic score: 0.75
Go to School
Rice University
Houston, Texas
Admission rate: 11%
Grad rate: 95%
Net cost: $16,999
Payback: 1.3 Years
Earnings: $77,683
Vs. state average: + $32,736
Economic score: 0.77
Go to School
Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia
Admission rate: 17%
Grad rate: 94%
Net cost: $28,909
Payback: 1.6 Years
Earnings: $96,375
Vs. state average: + $47,089
Economic score: 0.82
Go to School
University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Admission rate: 15%
Grad rate: 92%
Net cost: $14,279
Payback: 1.2 Years
Earnings: $73,744
Vs. state average: + $23,065
Economic score: 0.83
Go to School
University of California-San Diego
La Jolla, California
Admission rate: 37%
Grad rate: 89%
Net cost: $14,232
Payback: 1.3 Years
Earnings: $74,771
Vs. state average: + $24,092
Economic score: 0.85
Go to School
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Admission rate: 26%
Grad rate: 90%
Net cost: $12,352
Payback: 1.3 Years
Earnings: $61,915
Vs. state average: + $19,844
Economic score: 0.86
Go to School
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Seattle, Washington
Admission rate: 56%
Grad rate: 84%
Net cost: $13,297
Payback: 1.3 Years
Earnings: $68,925
Vs. state average: + $23,966
Economic score: 0.88
Go to School
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Admission rate: 6%
Grad rate: 98%
Net cost: $15,386
Payback: 1.1 Years
Earnings: $84,918
Vs. state average: + $17,160
Economic score: 0.89
Go to School