These GA Colleges Earned Top Score On New National Ranking

Four Georgia colleges have been named to Money’s 2025 Best Colleges in America ratings, which focuses on institutions that are affordable, have strong academic programs and give graduates a strong shot at a good salary after graduation.

Money said its 11th annual ratings can give families of college-bound students some control in the uncertain landscape and help them find a college they can afford, with the academic programs and campus culture they want.

The 732 colleges are those where students are most likely to graduate and land jobs, Money said.

Schools from Georgia include:

Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville
Star rating: 3
Acceptance rate: 88 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $31,500
Estimated price with average aid: $21,000
Graduation rate: 62 percent

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
Star rating: 5
Acceptance rate: 16 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $29,600
Estimated price with average aid: $16,900
Graduation rate: 92 percent

Georgia State University, Atlanta
Star rating: 3
Acceptance rate: 62 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $32,660
Estimated price with average aid: $17,400
Graduation rate: 59 percent

University of Georgia, Athens
Star rating: 4 ½
Acceptance rate: 37 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $29,170
Estimated price with average aid: $17,300
Graduation rate: 87 percent

Money looks at about two dozen data points to assemble the final lists, which were weighted by affordability (40 percent) and quality of education and outcomes, including post-graduation salaries (30 percent each).

Money said its ranking comes as the Trump administration reshapes higher education, including cuts to research grant funding, increased taxes on endowment, shrinking federal funding for some college access programs, and a crackdown on international student enrollment. The recently signed budget bill also makes changes to federal Pell grants and overhauls student loans.

“The volume of higher ed news right now is, frankly, overwhelming,” Marc Zawel, who cofounded the admissions consulting company AcceptU in 2009, told Money. “There’s a lot of noise that [students are] trying to work through to make sense of what actually affects them.”

Go here to see all rankings.

Related

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• Here’s How Much Tuition Costs At The 30 Most-Expensive U.S. Colleges
• The World’s ‘Most Innovative College’ Is Also The Toughest To Get Into In The U.S.

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