Wall Street Journal’s 2025 Best Colleges In America

Babson College finished No. 2 in Wall Street Journal‘s 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. ranking. Babson has jumped 124 spots in the last two years. Courtesy photo

Another U.S. college ranking, another first for Princeton University.

Princeton topped Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S ranking, released today (September 5). It’s the second straight year Princeton has been WSJ’s top school — and it continues an impressive winning streak for the private Ivy in New Jersey.

Last week, Princeton also topped Forbes’ America’s Top Colleges ranking — also for the second straight time — and it likewise came first in U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 National University ranking, released last fall. If Princeton tops U.S. News’ 2025 ranking, expected to be published in the next couple of weeks, it will achieve repeats on all three of the major college rankings for U.S. schools.

WSJ TOP 10

Princeton topped the WSJ list with an overall score of 92.3. It scored a near-perfect graduation rate score of 99 (out of 100) and a salary impact score of 97. The university’s diversity score of 76 reflects a well-rounded student body, while its learning opportunities and preparation for career scores — 73 and 77, respectively — underscore its commitment to academic rigor and real-world readiness. Princeton’s graduates see a value-added salary boost of over $81,000.

The table below shows the top 10 school’s on WSJ’s 2025 ranking.



1	Princeton University	NJ	Private	92.3
2	Babson College	MA	Private	91.9
3	Stanford University	CA	Private	91.6
4	Yale University	CT	Private	89.3
5	Claremont McKenna College	CA	Private	89.2
6	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	Private	87.4
7	Harvard University	MA	Private	86.2
8	University of California, Berkeley	CA	Public	86.1
9	Georgia Institute of Technology	GA	Public	85.8
10	Davidson College	NC	Private	85.6

BABSON COLLEGE RISES 124 SPOTS IN TWO YEARS

Perhaps the biggest story in WSJ’s latest list is the meteoric rise of Babson College.

Last year, Babson, a small private college near Boston, rose 116 spots to break the top 10 after ranking No. 126 in 2023. The large jump was the result of the WSJ putting more focus on value added to student success as a result of their college of choice.

Babson rose another eight spots on the 2025 list, finishing at No. 2 — ahead of Stanford University, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Babson was rewarded for its strong salary impact on its graduates’ careers, earning a perfect 100. It ranked No. 8 overall in the category.

In fact, the Class of 2023 set a record for Babson undergraduates for starting salaries, earning an average of $75,579 a year – 20% higher than the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) projected average for business majors, according to Babson news release. That record-breaking salary beat the previous record set by Babson’s Class of 2022 graduates who earned an average of 14% more than the previous class in their first jobs.

Babson undergrads also posted a 98.6% employment rate.

“At second-ranked Babson, the emphasis on hands-on experiences begins the moment students step on campus as freshmen. Built into the Babson curriculum are opportunities for experiential learning, like the mandatory Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship class, where students launch startups in groups during their first two semesters of college using a loan of up to $3,000 provided by the school,” WSJ writes in its ranking story.

Stephen Spinelli Jr, president Babson College

WSJ also ranked Babson No. 2 for Career Preparation and No. 11 for Student Experience.

“Babson’s recognition as the No. 2 college in the United States by The Wall Street Journal is a remarkable milestone for our community. It’s also a signal that entrepreneurship as an academic discipline has transcended business education,” says Babson President Stephen Spinelli Jr.

“At Babson, we go a step beyond by producing entrepreneurial leaders who pioneer new approaches and creative ways of thinking across a broad spectrum of industries and professions. Those leaders and their myriad impacts around the world play a significant role in this historic milestone for Babson, and to a greater extent, for entrepreneurship education as a whole.”

WSJ METHODOLOGY

WSJ’s is the second major ranking of undergraduate universities in the U.S. in as many weeks. Forbes’ list came out last week, and U.S. News’ typically drops mid September.

While neither the Forbes or WSJ rankings focus on undergraduate business schools, many of the top-ranked undergrad business programs are housed in high-ranking universities from both lists. Poets&Quants For Undergrads will publish its annual business school-specific ranking in March 2025.

WSJ has published its college rankings since 2016 along with its research partners College Pulse and Statista. It aims to evaluate how well U.S. colleges and universities prepare students for financial success, focusing on measurable outcomes such as graduation rates and post-graduate earnings.

Last year, it made significant changes to its methodology, eliminating the academic survey on schools’ reputations which rewards big brand schools superior name recognition. It also didn’t reward schools for the amount of money it spends on instruction.

That has led to a significant rise in the rankings for public institutions, with six schools breaking into the top 20, including the University of California at Berkeley, at No. 8, and Georgia Institute of Technology at No. 9. Last year, no public universities were in the top 10 and only two were in the top 20.

WSJ’s ranking is divided into several categories by which students can further narrow down target schools based on their preferences: The full college rankings, Student Experience, Salary Impact, Social Mobility and Best Value.

The following table shows metrics and weights used to calculate the ranking.



Student Outcomes (70%)	Salary Impact	33%	Measures how much a college boosts graduates’ salaries beyond expected levels.
	Years to Pay Off Net Price	17%	Combines average net price with value added to graduates’ median salary to estimate how long it takes to pay off education costs.
	Graduation Rate Impact	20%	Assesses the college’s success in graduating students compared to expectations based on student demographics.
Learning Environment (20%)	Learning Opportunities	4%	Student satisfaction with faculty interactions, feedback, and teaching quality.
	Preparation for Career	4%	Evaluates career networking, advice, and applied learning opportunities.
	Learning Facilities	4%	Student satisfaction with libraries, internet, and classrooms.
	Recommendation Score	4%	Measures how likely students are to recommend their college to others.
	Character Score	4%	Assesses the development of personal qualities like moral courage, resilience, and societal contributions.
Diversity (10%)	Opportunities to Interact with Different Backgrounds	5%	Frequency of student interaction with diverse peers.
	Ethnic Diversity	1.70%	Probability of random pairings being from different ethnic backgrounds.
	Inclusion of Students with Lower Family Earnings	1.70%	Proportion of Pell Grant recipients.
	Inclusion of Students with Disabilities	1.70%	Proportion of students with disabilities.
Contextual Figures	Average Net Price	–	The annual cost of attendance, factoring in grants and scholarships.
	Value Added to Graduate Salary	–	The difference in earnings attributable to attending the college compared to high school graduates.

See the full ranking methodology here.

THE 100 BEST U.S. COLLEGES BY WSJ

WSJ evaluated 500 U.S. private and public universities. For its full, overall ranking, it scored each school on student outcomes (70% weight), learning environment (20%) and diversity (10%).

It employed one of the largest independent student surveys and combined it with a “rigorous statistical analysis” of government data to calculate its school scores. It also factors cost of attendance (average net price) against student outcomes.

The top 100 schools from WSJ’s 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. are shown in the table below. The full list is available here.



1	Princeton University	NJ	Private	92.3
2	Babson College	MA	Private	91.9
3	Stanford University	CA	Private	91.6
4	Yale University	CT	Private	89.3
5	Claremont McKenna College	CA	Private	89.2
6	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	Private	87.4
7	Harvard University	MA	Private	86.2
8	University of California, Berkeley	CA	Public	86.1
9	Georgia Institute of Technology	GA	Public	85.8
10	Davidson College	NC	Private	85.6
11	Bentley University	MA	Private	85.3
12	University of California, Davis	CA	Public	85.3
13	University of Pennsylvania	PA	Private	85.1
14	Columbia University	NY	Private	85
15	Lehigh University	PA	Private	84.6
16	San José State University	CA	Public	84.4
17	University of Notre Dame	IN	Private	84.2
18	University of California, Merced	CA	Public	84
19	Virginia Tech	VA	Public	83.9
20	Harvey Mudd College	CA	Private	83.6
21	California State Polytechnic University, Pomona	CA	Public	83.6
22	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	MI	Public	83.5
23	Loyola University Maryland	MD	Private	83.1
24	California State University, Stanislaus	CA	Public	83.1
25	Colgate University	NY	Private	83
26	University of Delaware	DE	Public	82.9
27	Cornell University	NY	Private	82.8
28	Texas A&M University, College Station	TX	Public	82.6
29	Rice University	TX	Private	82.4
30	University of California, San Diego	CA	Public	82.2
31	University of California, Irvine	CA	Public	82
32	Washington University in St. Louis	MO	Private	81.8
33	University of Virginia, Main Campus	VA	Public	81.8
34	Georgetown University	DC	Private	81.7
35	Swarthmore College	PA	Private	81.6
36	Brown University	RI	Private	81.6
37	Augustana College	IL	Private	81.3
38	Santa Clara University	CA	Private	81.3
39	California Institute of Technology	CA	Private	81.2
40	Towson University	MD	Public	81.2
41	University of Texas at Austin	TX	Public	81.1
42	St. Joseph’s University	PA	Private	81
43	University of Detroit Mercy	MI	Private	81
44	Vanderbilt University	TN	Private	80.9
45	Duke University	NC	Private	80.8
46	California State University, San Bernardino	CA	Public	80.5
47	University of San Diego	CA	Private	80.4
48	California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo	CA	Public	80.4
49	University of Southern California	CA	Private	80.3
50	Washington and Lee University	VA	Private	80.3
51	California State University, Fresno	CA	Public	80.2
52	Manhattan College	NY	Private	80
53	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	Public	79.8
54	Albion College	MI	Private	79.7
55	Marquette University	WI	Private	79.7
56	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	Private	79.7
57	Dartmouth College	NH	Private	79.6
58	Lafayette College	PA	Private	79.5
59	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	Public	79.5
60	Michigan State University	MI	Public	79.5
61	Baruch College, CUNY	NY	Public	79.5
62	Northwestern University	IL	Private	79.5
63	Brigham Young University	UT	Private	79.5
64	Colby College	ME	Private	79.4
65	College of the Holy Cross	MA	Private	79.4
66	San Francisco State University	CA	Public	79.3
67	California State University, Long Beach	CA	Public	79.1
68	University of California, Los Angeles	CA	Public	79
69	Siena College	NY	Private	79
70	James Madison University	VA	Public	79
71	University of Portland	OR	Private	79
72	California State University, Sacramento	CA	Public	78.9
73	University of Wisconsin, Madison	WI	Public	78.7
74	Bryant University	RI	Private	78.7
75	University of Chicago	IL	Private	78.4
76	George Mason University	VA	Public	78.3
77	Florida International University	FL	Public	78.2
78	University of Dayton	OH	Private	78.1
79	Villanova University	PA	Private	78.1
80	University of La Verne	CA	Private	77.9
81	California State University, Northridge	CA	Public	77.8
82	University of Washington	WA	Public	77.7
83	University of Florida	FL	Public	77.7
84	University of Rhode Island	RI	Public	77.5
85	California State University, Fullerton	CA	Public	77.4
86	Wellesley College	MA	Private	77.4
87	University of the Pacific	CA	Private	77.3
88	Haverford College	PA	Private	77.1
89	Ohio Northern University	OH	Private	77
90	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	MA	Private	77
91	Quinnipiac University	CT	Private	77
92	Johns Hopkins University	MD	Private	76.9
93	Clemson University	SC	Public	76.8
94	The College of New Jersey	NJ	Public	76.7
95	California State University, Los Angeles	CA	Public	76.7
96	Bucknell University	PA	Private	76.7
97	California State University, San Marcos	CA	Public	76.5
98	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	IN	Private	76.3
99	University of Connecticut	CT	Public	76.3
100	Boston College	MA	Private	76.3

SCHOOLS RANKED BY STUDENT EXPERIENCE

The WSJ/College Pulse Student Experience ranking looks at the schools where students enjoy waking up to go to class. Student perceptions were measured by an independent survey of verified college students and recent graduates. Seven of the top 20 schools in this category are public.

Scripps College, a private school in California, has the best score in this category at 75.5. It also scored a 68 in community and social life and 83 in diversity. The average net price of attendance is $33,912 with a value added to graduate salaries of $44,706.

See the top 20 schools for student experience in the table below.



1	Scripps College	CA	Private	75.5
2	Harvey Mudd College	CA	Private	75.3
3	Florida International University	FL	Public	74.7
4	Hobart and William Smith Colleges	NY	Private	74.3
5	California Baptist University	CA	Private	73.9
6	Yale University	CT	Private	73.5
7	Pomona College	CA	Private	73.1
8	Oral Roberts University	OK	Private	72.4
9	Princeton University	NJ	Private	71
10	Claremont McKenna College	CA	Private	70.7
11	Babson College	MA	Private	70.6
12	Pitzer College	CA	Private	70.5
13	Amherst College	MA	Private	70.5
14	Alcorn State University	MS	Public	70.3
15	California State University, Fresno	CA	Public	70.2
16	Stanford University	CA	Private	70.2
17	University of Houston, Downtown	TX	Public	70
18	Savannah State University	GA	Public	70
19	Northeastern Illinois University	IL	Public	70
20	Brooklyn College, CUNY	NY	Public	69.8

SCHOOLS RANKED BY SALARY IMPACT

Here, five of the top 20 schools are public institutions, including Georgia Institute of Technology which ranked No. 9 overall.

Still, the Ivies and big brand powerhouses still dominate. Massachusetts Institute of Technology comes out on top with a salary score of 99.3.

The salary impact rating looks at the impact the school has on its graduates’ salaries in relation to the cost of attending. While the schools at the top generally have high price tags, the salaries their graduates earn 10 years later make up for the high cost.

Below, you can see the 20 schools with the highest salary impact from WSJ’s ranking.



1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	Private	99.3
2	Stanford University	CA	Private	98.4
3	Princeton University	NJ	Private	97.9
4	Georgia Institute of Technology, Main Campus	GA	Public	97.6
5	University of Pennsylvania	PA	Private	97.4
6	California Institute of Technology	CA	Private	96.6
7	Harvey Mudd College	CA	Private	96.6
8	Babson College	MA	Private	96.2
9	Missouri University of Science and Technology	MO	Public	96
10	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	Private	95.1
11	Claremont McKenna College	CA	Private	94.9
12	Milwaukee School of Engineering	WI	Private	94.7
13	Lehigh University	PA	Private	94.6
14	Bentley University	MA	Private	94.5
15	Michigan Technological University	MI	Public	94.2
16	Colorado School of Mines	CO	Public	94.1
17	San José State University	CA	Public	93.7
18	Yale University	CT	Private	93.5
19	Kettering University	MI	Private	92.8
20	Manhattan College	NY	Private	92.8

SCHOOLS RANKED BY SOCIAL MOBILITY

For social mobility, WSJ looked at how much schools enhance students’ social mobility after graduation. Institutions with the highest proportion of students that come from lower-income families, high graduation rates, high salary impact for graduates, and lower costs do the best in this metric.

Public schools dominate here with 17 of the top 20 spots.

University of California at Merced is the best school for social mobility at 86.8. It scored 83 out of 100 in salary impact and a 96 in graduation rate. It has an average net price of $13,450 with a value added graduate salary of $33,874.

A table with the top 20 schools for social mobility is presented below.



1	University of California, Merced	CA	Public	86.8
2	California State University, Stanislaus	CA	Public	82.1
3	California State University, San Bernardino	CA	Public	81.2
4	California State University, Fresno	CA	Public	80.4
5	California State University, Los Angeles	CA	Public	78.5
6	Florida International University	FL	Public	78.2
7	California State University, Long Beach	CA	Public	77
8	Baruch College, CUNY	NY	Public	76.8
9	California State University, Northridge	CA	Public	76
10	California State Polytechnic University, Pomona	CA	Public	75.8
11	California State University, Fullerton	CA	Public	74.9
12	University of California, Riverside	CA	Public	73.1
13	California State University, Sacramento	CA	Public	71.7
14	Fresno Pacific University	CA	Private	69.5
15	Albion College	MI	Private	68.8
16	University of Illinois, Chicago	IL	Public	67.7
17	University of La Verne	CA	Private	66.4
18	Montclair State University	NJ	Public	64.9
19	California State University, San Marcos	CA	Public	64.6
20	San Francisco State University	CA	Public	63.9

SCHOOLS RANKED FOR BEST VALUE

WSJ’s Best Value ranking looks at how quickly the difference between a school’s graduates’ salaries and those of comparable high-school graduates pays back the average net price of four years of study, or “Years to pay off net price.”

Here, Baruch College, CUNY, scored highest here with a perfect 100 for value. It has an average net price of $3,644 with a value added graduate salary of $45,354. Its “years to pay off net price” is three months.

Public schools made up 14 of the top 20 in the category.



1	Baruch College, CUNY	NY	Public	100
2	Hunter College, CUNY	NY	Public	99.9
3	Princeton University	NJ	Private	99.8
4	City College of New York, CUNY	NY	Public	99.7
5	Brooklyn College, CUNY	NY	Public	99.5
6	Stanford University	CA	Private	99.3
7	University of Florida	FL	Public	99.1
8	Queens College, CUNY	NY	Public	99
9	Berea College	KY	Private	98.9
10	California State University, Stanislaus	CA	Public	98.8
11	California Institute of Technology	CA	Private	98.6
12	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	Private	98.5
13	Florida State University	FL	Public	98.4
14	California State University, Los Angeles	CA	Public	98.3
15	Georgia Institute of Technology, Main Campus	GA	Public	98.2
16	California State University, Fresno	CA	Public	97.8
17	California State University, Fullerton	CA	Public	97.7
18	Missouri University of Science and Technology	MO	Public	97.5
19	Rice University	TX	Private	97.4
20	University of California, Irvine	CA	Public	97.2

DON’T MISS: POETS&QUANTS’ BEST UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOLS OF 2024 AND RANKING: THE FORBES 2024-2025 TOP COLLEGES IN AMERICA

The post Wall Street Journal’s 2025 Best Colleges In America appeared first on Poets&Quants.

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Wall Street Journal’s 2025 Best Colleges In America

WSJ TOP 10

BABSON COLLEGE RISES 124 SPOTS IN TWO YEARS

WSJ METHODOLOGY

THE 100 BEST U.S. COLLEGES BY WSJ

SCHOOLS RANKED BY STUDENT EXPERIENCE

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