Ranking: The Forbes 2024-2025 Top Colleges in America (2024)

For the second straight year, Princeton University tops the list in Forbes’ “America’s Top Colleges” ranking.

In fact, Forbes’ annual ranking of 500 colleges across the U.S. has all the schools you’d expect at the very top: Stanford University comes it at No. 2, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, and University of California-Berkeley to round out the top five.

Forbes’ 2024-2025 list is the first of several major undergraduate college rankings we expect in the next couple of weeks. Wall Street Journal/College Pulse also ranked Princeton first in its 2024 ranking released last September with its 2025 list likely coming in the next week. While neither of these rankings focus on undergraduate business schools, many of the top-ranked undergrad business programs are housed in high-ranking universities from both lists. (More on that later).

U.S. News & World Report does put out ranking specific to undergraduate business schools part of its annual best colleges ranking, but that isn’t expected for a couple more weeks.

FORBES’ TOP 15 COLLEGES

Forbes’ annual list is based on metrics such as student success, return on investment, and alumni influence.

The 15 most highly-ranked schools are almost all private and many are among the prestigious Ivy League. Two, however, are public colleges: University of California-Berkeley (No. 5) and University of California-Los Angeles (No. 13).

TOP UNDERGRAD B-SCHOOLS FROM THE LIST

Of course, Poets&Quants For Undergrads primarily serves students and parents looking for top-notch business programs. The Forbes’ list, like many rankings of undergraduate schools, is a university-wide ranking. It doesn’t differentiate between majors or areas of specialization.

Therefore, several of the top universities and colleges from the Forbes’ list don’t have dedicated business majors to speak of, including Princeton or Stanford. Or, they may have business programs only for graduate students – like Stanford’s world leading Graduate School of Business or Harvard Business School.

Still, the list can tell prospective business majors important information about the resources, cost, earning potential, and rigor of the home schools of the business programs they are most interested in. Several of the top undergrad business programs are housed in schools ranked in top 50 on the Forbes’ list.

The No. 1 business program for undergraduates in our 2024 ranking, for example, is The Wharton School. Its host school, University of Pennsylvania, is the No. 7 university in the country according to Forbes. Cornell University, meanwhile, was ranked No. 10 as a whole by Forbes while its business school, SC Johnson College of Business, finished No. 6 in the P&Q ranking for its business major.

Below, you can see how the home universities of each of the top 10 undergraduate business schools for our 2024 ranking fared in Forbes’ latest list. (P&Q’s 2025 undergraduate business school ranking will come out in March.)

BIGGEST RISES AND FALLS

Just as it did last year, Princeton landed the No. 1 spot in both the Forbes and Wall Street Journal rankings. It had an undergraduate population of 5,444 with an average grant aid package of $59,792 and an average annual cost of $80,415, according to Forbes. It also tied for the largest median 10-year alumni salary at $189,400. It offers 37 degree concentrations and over 50 interdepartmental certificate programs. Princeton also provides generous financial aid, covering 100% of tuition and housing for families earning up to $65,000.

Yale University came in second this year, jumping up from number eight last year. The school scored highly for its impressive $58,715 average grant aid and low average debt of $4,968. Yale grads also cash in comfortable salaries with a median 10-year salary of $163,900. Stanford University ranked third this year, dropping one spot from last year. The California institution had an average grant aid of $56,211 and average debt of $8,868. Median 10-year salary for Stanford grads was $173,800.

Stanford University (No. 2) and MIT (No. 3) both rose one spot compared to last year’s Forbes ranking while Yale University (No. 4) fell two spots.
Of the top 50, the biggest risers were California Institute of Technology which rose 25 spots to No. 22 and Claremont McKenna College which rose 22 spots to No. 19.

University of Washington-Seattle, meanwhile, fell the farthest, slipping 18 spots to No. 44 overall. University of Texas-Austin fell 15 spots to No. 46.

MIT & PRINCETON GRADS EARN TOP PAY

For those looking for a long term return on their education investment, Princeton and Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates have the highest median salaries ($189,400) 10-years after earning their degrees. Harvey Mudd College (No. 184 overall) ranks second in pay at $179,600 – beating Stanford University alumni by $2,100.

Babson College (No. 96 overall) ranks fifth in terms of pay with grads earning an average 10-year salary of $175,200.

If you’re looking to get out of college relatively debt free, Hanover College (No. 492) in Indiana, has the lowest student debt at just $2,452. Other private colleges with low debt include Berea College (#456) at $2,559 and Boston College (#59) at $3,5888.

METHODOLOGY

To compile its ranking, Forbes starts with a list of U.S. colleges based on the Carnegie Classification which categorizes institutions by degree offerings, research output, and specialty focus. This list included doctoral research universities, master’s universities and colleges, baccalaureate colleges, and colleges with specialized programs in engineering, business, and art.

Schools were evaluated using data from several sources, including federal education databases, such as the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and College Scorecard. Additional data came from PayScale, a Seattle-based software and data company, Third Way, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy think tank, the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and Forbes’ own lists.

It calculated its list based on the following metrics:

• Alumni Salary (20%): Forbes assessed alumni earnings by considering median income data from two sources: PayScale’s 6-year and 10-year post-graduation earnings and College Scorecard’s median earnings data for graduates 6 years and 10 years after enrollment. Each of the four income segments was weighted at 5%.
• Debt (15%): Forbes measured typical student debt by multiplying the median federal loan debt per borrower by the percentage of students with federal student loans. Additionally, Forbes examined each college’s five-year loan repayment rate.
• Graduation Rate (15%): Forbes evaluated colleges using their six-year graduation rate, accounting for transfer students and other factors. 10% of Forbes’ model considered the overall six-year graduation rate, while an additional 5% looked at graduation rates for Pell Grant recipients.
• Forbes American Leaders List (15%): Forbes assessed the leadership and entrepreneurial success of college graduates by comparing mentions across various Forbes lists, including the Forbes 30 Under 30, Forbes 400, Richest Self-Made Women, Most Powerful Women, and others.
• Return On Investment (15%): To determine return on investment, Forbes looked at price-to-earnings for each college. This was calculated by comparing the total net cost of a degree to post-enrollment earnings compared to high school graduate salaries in the state (weighted at 10%). Additionally, Forbes also considered a price to earnings for low-income students (weighted at 5%).
• Retention Rate (10%): Forbes measured student satisfaction by calculating a three-year average retention rate using IPEDS data, excluding the year 2020 due to COVID-19 disruptions.
• Academic Success (10%): Forbes assessed academic performance by looking at the number of recent graduates who received prestigious scholarships, such as the Fulbright, Truman, Goldwater, and Rhodes. It also considered the average number of alumni who earned PhDs over the past three years. Each measure was weighted at 5%.

Go to next page to see how where top 100 colleges and universities finished, along with school data on average grant aid and post-graduate pay and debt.