College ranking

Selectivity index (admission + SAT blend)

College Scorecard + IPEDS Last updated: May 2026

Executive Summary

EDsmart Data illustrative selectivity score: for campuses reporting both admission rate and mean SAT, we average the percentile rank of (1 − admission rate) and the percentile rank of mean SAT, then show the result as a 0–100% score (higher = more selective in this blend). It is not comparable to proprietary indices elsewhere. Stanford University leads this list at 99.8% (Selectivity score).

Leaders: top 3

Stanford University

Selectivity score 99.8%

CA · Private nonprofit

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Selectivity score 99.8%

MA · Private nonprofit

University of Chicago

Selectivity score 99.8%

IL · Private nonprofit

Top 100 Selectivity index (admission + SAT blend)

Rank	Institution	State	Control	Enrollment	Selectivity score	Also see
1	Stanford University	CA	Private nonprofit	7,554	99.8%	Admit 3.6% · SAT 1553
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	Private nonprofit	4,535	99.8%	Admit 4.5% · SAT 1560
3	University of Chicago	IL	Private nonprofit	7,569	99.8%	Admit 4.5% · SAT 1554
4	Harvard University	MA	Private nonprofit	7,601	99.7%	Admit 3.6% · SAT 1553
5	Columbia University in the City of New York	NY	Private nonprofit	8,973	99.6%	Admit 4.0% · SAT 1553
6	Princeton University	NJ	Private nonprofit	5,709	99.5%	Admit 4.6% · SAT 1553
7	University of Pennsylvania	PA	Private nonprofit	10,650	99.3%	Admit 5.4% · SAT 1553
8	Johns Hopkins University	MD	Private nonprofit	5,693	99.1%	Admit 6.4% · SAT 1553
9	Yale University	CT	Private nonprofit	6,758	99.1%	Admit 3.9% · SAT 1534
10	Brown University	RI	Private nonprofit	7,226	99.1%	Admit 5.4% · SAT 1546
11	Vanderbilt University	TN	Private nonprofit	7,208	99.0%	Admit 5.9% · SAT 1549
12	Duke University	NC	Private nonprofit	6,442	99.0%	Admit 5.7% · SAT 1548
13	Rice University	TX	Private nonprofit	4,776	98.8%	Admit 8.0% · SAT 1553
14	Dartmouth College	NH	Private nonprofit	4,541	98.7%	Admit 5.4% · SAT 1534
15	Pomona College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,666	98.5%	Admit 7.1% · SAT 1534
16	Swarthmore College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,613	98.4%	Admit 7.5% · SAT 1534
17	Cornell University	NY	Private nonprofit	15,995	98.3%	Admit 8.8% · SAT 1535
18	Northwestern University	IL	Private nonprofit	9,201	98.2%	Admit 7.7% · SAT 1533
19	Williams College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,076	98.1%	Admit 8.2% · SAT 1533
20	Amherst College	MA	Private nonprofit	1,911	97.9%	Admit 9.0% · SAT 1533
21	Bowdoin College	ME	Private nonprofit	1,873	97.9%	Admit 7.1% · SAT 1520
22	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	Private nonprofit	7,304	97.9%	Admit 11.7% · SAT 1546
23	Claremont McKenna College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,388	97.6%	Admit 9.6% · SAT 1527
24	Barnard College	NY	Private nonprofit	3,264	97.6%	Admit 8.8% · SAT 1520
25	Harvey Mudd College	CA	Private nonprofit	921	97.5%	Admit 12.7% · SAT 1545
26	New York University	NY	Private nonprofit	28,663	97.5%	Admit 9.2% · SAT 1520
27	Northeastern University	MA	Private nonprofit	17,326	97.5%	Admit 5.2% · SAT 1497
28	Colby College	ME	Private nonprofit	2,407	97.3%	Admit 7.1% · SAT 1501
29	Emory University	GA	Private nonprofit	7,298	97.3%	Admit 10.7% · SAT 1520
30	Washington University in St Louis	MO	Private nonprofit	7,857	97.3%	Admit 12.1% · SAT 1530
31	University of Notre Dame	IN	Private nonprofit	8,818	97.2%	Admit 11.3% · SAT 1520
32	Middlebury College	VT	Private nonprofit	2,738	96.8%	Admit 10.8% · SAT 1508
33	Tufts University	MA	Private nonprofit	7,061	96.8%	Admit 11.5% · SAT 1513
34	Haverford College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,430	96.6%	Admit 12.4% · SAT 1513
35	University of Southern California	CA	Private nonprofit	20,443	96.4%	Admit 9.8% · SAT 1495
36	Wellesley College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,300	96.4%	Admit 14.1% · SAT 1520
37	Colgate University	NY	Private nonprofit	3,180	96.1%	Admit 13.9% · SAT 1508
38	Hamilton College	NY	Private nonprofit	2,030	96.0%	Admit 13.6% · SAT 1506
39	Boston University	MA	Private nonprofit	18,248	95.9%	Admit 11.1% · SAT 1480
40	Washington and Lee University	VA	Private nonprofit	1,881	95.7%	Admit 14.0% · SAT 1498
41	Georgetown University	DC	Private nonprofit	7,569	95.6%	Admit 12.9% · SAT 1487
42	Boston College	MA	Private nonprofit	10,085	95.6%	Admit 16.4% · SAT 1507
43	Wesleyan University	CT	Private nonprofit	3,067	95.4%	Admit 16.5% · SAT 1501
44	Carleton College	MN	Private nonprofit	2,086	95.3%	Admit 20.4% · SAT 1517
45	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	GA	Public	18,785	95.0%	Admit 14.1% · SAT 1480
46	Bates College	ME	Private nonprofit	1,760	95.0%	Admit 13.3% · SAT 1468
47	Davidson College	NC	Private nonprofit	1,867	95.0%	Admit 13.4% · SAT 1469
48	Grinnell College	IA	Private nonprofit	1,729	95.0%	Admit 14.5% · SAT 1486
49	Vassar College	NY	Private nonprofit	2,444	94.6%	Admit 18.6% · SAT 1494
50	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	Public	17,597	94.6%	Admit 16.8% · SAT 1480
51	Smith College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,544	94.6%	Admit 21.0% · SAT 1500
52	Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	Private nonprofit	7,767	94.4%	Admit 14.0% · SAT 1448
53	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	Public	34,177	94.4%	Admit 15.6% · SAT 1465
54	Northeastern University Oakland	CA	Private nonprofit	464	94.4%	Admit 16.7% · SAT 1472
55	University of Richmond	VA	Private nonprofit	2,980	94.2%	Admit 22.2% · SAT 1497
56	Rhode Island School of Design	RI	Private nonprofit	2,084	94.1%	Admit 18.7% · SAT 1473
57	Babson College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,728	93.9%	Admit 17.1% · SAT 1457
58	Wake Forest University	NC	Private nonprofit	5,485	93.8%	Admit 21.7% · SAT 1475
59	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	Public	20,752	93.7%	Admit 15.3% · SAT 1439
60	Case Western Reserve University	OH	Private nonprofit	6,437	93.2%	Admit 36.5% · SAT 1513
61	Villanova University	PA	Private nonprofit	6,938	92.6%	Admit 27.0% · SAT 1460
62	William & Mary	VA	Public	7,055	92.3%	Admit 34.1% · SAT 1473
63	Lehigh University	PA	Private nonprofit	5,898	92.3%	Admit 25.9% · SAT 1440
64	Reed College	OR	Private nonprofit	1,320	92.3%	Admit 24.6% · SAT 1437
65	University of Miami	FL	Private nonprofit	12,913	92.3%	Admit 18.9% · SAT 1415
66	Denison University	OH	Private nonprofit	2,380	92.2%	Admit 17.4% · SAT 1410
67	Scripps College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,113	92.1%	Admit 38.3% · SAT 1492
68	Macalester College	MN	Private nonprofit	2,131	92.0%	Admit 28.5% · SAT 1440
69	Hillsdale College	MI	Private nonprofit	1,573	92.0%	Admit 20.7% · SAT 1415
70	Mount Holyoke College	MA	Private nonprofit	2,169	91.8%	Admit 36.0% · SAT 1463
71	The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art	NY	Private nonprofit	842	91.8%	Admit 20.7% · SAT 1410
72	Oberlin College	OH	Private nonprofit	2,887	91.6%	Admit 34.2% · SAT 1447
73	University of Rochester	NY	Private nonprofit	6,331	91.6%	Admit 40.1% · SAT 1488
74	Skidmore College	NY	Private nonprofit	2,694	91.5%	Admit 21.1% · SAT 1405
75	Trinity University	TX	Private nonprofit	2,505	91.5%	Admit 25.9% · SAT 1416
76	Kenyon College	OH	Private nonprofit	1,732	91.3%	Admit 31.0% · SAT 1429
77	United States Military Academy	NY	Public	4,408	91.2%	Admit 12.4% · SAT 1355
78	University of Florida	FL	Public	35,629	91.1%	Admit 24.2% · SAT 1403
79	Lafayette College	PA	Private nonprofit	2,757	90.9%	Admit 31.4% · SAT 1424
80	Trinity College	CT	Private nonprofit	2,146	90.9%	Admit 29.2% · SAT 1415
81	Connecticut College	CT	Private nonprofit	1,937	90.8%	Admit 37.0% · SAT 1432
82	Brandeis University	MA	Private nonprofit	3,618	90.7%	Admit 40.5% · SAT 1462
83	Bucknell University	PA	Private nonprofit	3,876	90.7%	Admit 28.9% · SAT 1410
84	The University of Texas at Austin	TX	Public	42,855	90.6%	Admit 26.6% · SAT 1395
85	Colorado College	CO	Private nonprofit	2,014	90.6%	Admit 18.5% · SAT 1365
86	Franklin and Marshall College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,799	90.4%	Admit 28.2% · SAT 1392
87	Bryn Mawr College	PA	Private nonprofit	1,359	90.3%	Admit 29.4% · SAT 1396
88	United States Air Force Academy	CO	Public	4,114	90.2%	Admit 14.1% · SAT 1350
89	College of the Holy Cross	MA	Private nonprofit	3,106	90.0%	Admit 17.6% · SAT 1353
90	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	Public	36,258	89.8%	Admit 42.4% · SAT 1440
91	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	Public	30,760	89.7%	Admit 44.8% · SAT 1473
92	Binghamton University	NY	Public	14,655	89.7%	Admit 38.6% · SAT 1415
93	Whitman College	WA	Private nonprofit	1,531	89.6%	Admit 38.1% · SAT 1410
94	University of Georgia	GA	Public	32,137	89.5%	Admit 37.7% · SAT 1397
95	Occidental College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,877	89.5%	Admit 44.2% · SAT 1452
96	Florida State University	FL	Public	32,212	89.4%	Admit 24.2% · SAT 1361
97	Soka University of America	CA	Private nonprofit	484	89.4%	Admit 43.4% · SAT 1440
98	United States Naval Academy	MD	Public	4,474	89.0%	Admit 9.3% · SAT 1307
99	Gettysburg College	PA	Private nonprofit	2,099	88.4%	Admit 38.9% · SAT 1379
100	United States Coast Guard Academy	CT	Public	1,108	88.4%	Admit 22.4% · SAT 1339

Method notes

Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to the IPEDS 2024 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
Cohort applied on this page: enrollment floor of 200 undergraduates; sorted highest first on Selectivity score; 982 campuses met every filter and the top 100 are published.
Ties on the ranked metric are broken by enrollment, then institution name, so ranks stay stable between rebuilds.
ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
How the 10-year ROI figure is built: median earnings reported 6, 8, and 10 years after entry (years 7 and 9 linearly interpolated) are summed across years 6–10, then average annual net price × typical years enrolled (five for bachelor’s-predominant campuses) is subtracted. It is a nominal-dollar gap—not discounted to present value, and it does not subtract earnings foregone while enrolled or compare against a no-college baseline. Campuses reporting only one of the three earnings years are excluded from these tables.
School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.

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