Published: April 4, 2013
Ranking Colleges by Selectivity
Here is a list of colleges as classified by their selectivity, according to criteria developed by Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges (2009). The list can be sorted alphabetically, by state or by selectivity group. For selectivity categories, 1 indicates “most competitive,” 2 is “highly competitive plus,” 3 is “highly competitive,” and 4 is “very competitive plus.”
Related Article »
| Institution Name | State | Barron's Selectivity Category |
|---|---|---|
| Amherst College | MA | 1 |
| Barnard College | NY | 1 |
| Bates College | ME | 1 |
| Boston College | MA | 1 |
| Bowdoin College | ME | 1 |
| Brandeis University | MA | 1 |
| Brown University | RI | 1 |
| Bryn Mawr College | PA | 1 |
| Bucknell University | PA | 1 |
| California Institute of Technology | CA | 1 |
| Carleton College | MN | 1 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | PA | 1 |
| Case Western Reserve University | OH | 1 |
| Claremont McKenna College | CA | 1 |
| Colby College | ME | 1 |
| Colgate University | NY | 1 |
| College of the Holy Cross | MA | 1 |
| College of William and Mary | VA | 1 |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | 1 |
| Connecticut College | CT | 1 |
| Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art | NY | 1 |
| Cornell University | NY | 1 |
| Dartmouth College | NH | 1 |
| Davidson College | NC | 1 |
| Duke University | NC | 1 |
| Emory University | GA | 1 |
| Franklin and Marshall College | PA | 1 |
| George Washington University | DC | 1 |
| Georgetown University | DC | 1 |
| Hamilton College | NY | 1 |
| Harvard University | MA | 1 |
| Harvey Mudd College | CA | 1 |
| Haverford College | PA | 1 |
| Johns Hopkins University | MD | 1 |
| Kenyon College | OH | 1 |
| Lafayette College | PA | 1 |
| Lehigh University | PA | 1 |
| Macalester College | MN | 1 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MA | 1 |
| Middlebury College | VT | 1 |
| New York University | NY | 1 |
| Northwestern University | IL | 1 |
| Oberlin College | OH | 1 |
| Occidental College | CA | 1 |
| Pomona College | CA | 1 |
| Princeton University | NJ | 1 |
| Reed College | OR | 1 |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | NY | 1 |
| Rice University | TX | 1 |
| Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | IN | 1 |
| Scripps College | CA | 1 |
| Stanford University | CA | 1 |
| Swarthmore College | PA | 1 |
| The College of New Jersey | NJ | 1 |
| Tufts University | MA | 1 |
| Tulane University of Louisiana | LA | 1 |
| United States Air Force Academy | CO | 1 |
| United States Military Academy | NY | 1 |
| United States Naval Academy | MD | 1 |
| University of California-Los Angeles | CA | 1 |
| University of Chicago | IL | 1 |
| University of Miami | FL | 1 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | NC | 1 |
| University of Notre Dame | IN | 1 |
| University of Pennsylvania | PA | 1 |
| University of Richmond | VA | 1 |
| University of Rochester | NY | 1 |
| University of Southern California | CA | 1 |
| University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | 1 |
| Vanderbilt University | TN | 1 |
| Vassar College | NY | 1 |
| Villanova University | PA | 1 |
| Wake Forest University | NC | 1 |
| Washington and Lee University | VA | 1 |
| Washington Theological Union | DC | 1 |
| Washington University in St Louis | MO | 1 |
| Webb Institute | NY | 1 |
| Wellesley College | MA | 1 |
| Wesleyan University | CT | 1 |
| Whitman College | WA | 1 |
| Williams College | MA | 1 |
| Yale University | CT | 1 |
| American University | DC | 2 |
| Bard College | NY | 2 |
| Beloit College | WI | 2 |
| Boston University | MA | 2 |
| Centre College | KY | 2 |
| Colorado College | CO | 2 |
| Denison University | OH | 2 |
| Dickinson College | PA | 2 |
| Furman University | SC | 2 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | 2 |
| Gettysburg College | PA | 2 |
| Grove City College | PA | 2 |
| Hendrix College | AR | 2 |
| Hillsdale College | MI | 2 |
| Illinois Institute of Technology | IL | 2 |
| Illinois Wesleyan University | IL | 2 |
| Knox College | IL | 2 |
| Lawrence University | WI | 2 |
| Mount Holyoke College | MA | 2 |
| New College of Florida | FL | 2 |
| Rhodes College | TN | 2 |
| Skidmore College | NY | 2 |
| Smith College | MA | 2 |
| St. John's College | MD | 2 |
| St. Olaf College | MN | 2 |
| SUNY at Binghamton | NY | 2 |
| SUNY at Geneseo | NY | 2 |
| The New School | NY | 2 |
| Thomas Aquinas College | CA | 2 |
| Trinity University | TX | 2 |
| University of California-Berkeley | CA | 2 |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | IL | 2 |
| University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | 2 |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison | WI | 2 |
| Wheaton College | IL | 2 |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute | MA | 2 |
| Agnes Scott College | GA | 3 |
| Augustana College | IL | 3 |
| Austin College | TX | 3 |
| Babson College | MA | 3 |
| Baylor University | TX | 3 |
| Bennington College | VT | 3 |
| Bentley College | MA | 3 |
| Chapman University | CA | 3 |
| Clark University | MA | 3 |
| Clemson University | SC | 3 |
| Colorado School of Mines | CO | 3 |
| Elon University | NC | 3 |
| Emerson College | MA | 3 |
| Fordham University | NY | 3 |
| Gonzaga University | WA | 3 |
| Grinnell College | IA | 3 |
| Gustavus Adolphus College | MN | 3 |
| Hampshire College | MA | 3 |
| Jewish Theological Seminary of America | NY | 3 |
| Kalamazoo College | MI | 3 |
| Kettering University | MI | 3 |
| Loyola College in Maryland | MD | 3 |
| Loyola University Chicago | IL | 3 |
| Loyola University New Orleans | LA | 3 |
| Lyon College | AR | 3 |
| Marquette University | WI | 3 |
| Milwaukee School of Engineering | WI | 3 |
| Muhlenberg College | PA | 3 |
| New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | NM | 3 |
| Northeastern University | MA | 3 |
| Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | 3 |
| Pepperdine University | CA | 3 |
| Pitzer College | CA | 3 |
| Providence College | RI | 3 |
| Quinnipiac University | CT | 3 |
| Ramapo College of New Jersey | NJ | 3 |
| Rollins College | FL | 3 |
| Rutgers University-New Brunswick | NJ | 3 |
| Santa Clara University | CA | 3 |
| Sarah Lawrence College | NY | 3 |
| Sewanee: The University of the South | TN | 3 |
| Southern Methodist University | TX | 3 |
| Southwestern University | TX | 3 |
| St John's College | NM | 3 |
| St Lawrence University | NY | 3 |
| St Mary's College of Maryland | MD | 3 |
| Stevens Institute of Technology | NJ | 3 |
| Stony Brook University | NY | 3 |
| Syracuse University | NY | 3 |
| Texas A & M University | TX | 3 |
| Texas Christian University | TX | 3 |
| The University of Texas at Austin | TX | 3 |
| The University of Texas at Dallas | TX | 3 |
| Trinity College | CT | 3 |
| Union College | NY | 3 |
| United States Coast Guard Academy | CT | 3 |
| United States Merchant Marine Academy | NY | 3 |
| University of California-Irvine | CA | 3 |
| University of California-San Diego | CA | 3 |
| University of California-Santa Barbara | CA | 3 |
| University of Connecticut | CT | 3 |
| University of Florida | FL | 3 |
| University of Georgia | GA | 3 |
| University of Maryland-College Park | MD | 3 |
| University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | MN | 3 |
| University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | PA | 3 |
| University of Puget Sound | WA | 3 |
| University of San Diego | CA | 3 |
| University of Tulsa | OK | 3 |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | VA | 3 |
| Westmont College | CA | 3 |
| Wheaton College | MA | 3 |
| Wofford College | SC | 3 |
| Allegheny College | PA | 4 |
| Bard College at Simon's Rock | MA | 4 |
| Berea College | KY | 4 |
| Berry College | GA | 4 |
| Butler University | IN | 4 |
| Calvin College | MI | 4 |
| Cedarville University | OH | 4 |
| City University of New York/Baruch College | NY | 4 |
| College of the Atlantic | ME | 4 |
| College of the Ozarks | MO | 4 |
| College of Wooster | OH | 4 |
| Cornell College | IA | 4 |
| Creighton University | NE | 4 |
| Drake University | IA | 4 |
| Earlham College | IN | 4 |
| Hanover College | IN | 4 |
| Hope College | MI | 4 |
| Houghton College | NY | 4 |
| Indiana University Bloomington | IN | 4 |
| King College | TN | 4 |
| Lake Forest College | IL | 4 |
| Miami University | OH | 4 |
| Millsaps College | MS | 4 |
| Missouri University of Science and Technology | MO | 4 |
| Pacific Union College | CA | 4 |
| Richard Stockton College of New Jersey | NJ | 4 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | NY | 4 |
| Saint Louis University | MO | 4 |
| Salem College | NC | 4 |
| Shimer College | IL | 4 |
| Stonehill College | MA | 4 |
| Susquehanna University | PA | 4 |
| Taylor University | IN | 4 |
| Truman State University | MO | 4 |
| University at Buffalo/State University of New York | NY | 4 |
| University of Central Florida | FL | 4 |
| University of Dallas | TX | 4 |
| University of Delaware | DE | 4 |
| University of Denver | CO | 4 |
| University of South Carolina at Columbia | SC | 4 |
| University of South Florida | FL | 4 |
| University of Tennessee at Knoxville | TN | 4 |
| University of the Pacific | CA | 4 |
| Ursinus College | PA | 4 |
| Willamette University | OR | 4 |