These MI Colleges Earned Top Score On New National Ranking

MICHIGAN — Several Michigan colleges have been named to Money’s 2025 Best Colleges in America ratings, which focus 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 Michigan include:

• Albion College
  
  • Acceptance Rate: 83%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $72,760
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $19,600
  • Graduation Rate: 64%
• Andrews University
  • Acceptance Rate: 87%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $47,690
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $26,400
  • Graduation Rate: 67%
• Calvin University
  • Acceptance Rate: 71%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $56,990
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $28,000
  • Graduation Rate: 76%
• Central Michigan University
  • Acceptance Rate: 91%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$32,230
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $16,800
  • Graduation Rate: 64%
• Cornerstone University
  • Acceptance Rate: 73%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$39,690
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $24,600
  • Graduation Rate: 66%
• Davenport University
  • Acceptance Rate: 97%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$40,720
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $21,000
  • Graduation Rate: 52%
• Grand Valley State University
  • Acceptance Rate: 95%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$30,120
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $19,100
  • Graduation Rate: 67%
• Hope College
  • Acceptance Rate: 76%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$57,900
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $30,400
  • Graduation Rate: 80%
• Kalamazoo College
  • Acceptance Rate: 76%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$77,010
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $27,600
  • Graduation Rate: 76%
• Kettering College
  
  • Acceptance Rate: 79%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$63,560
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $35,700
  • Graduation Rate: 69%
• Madonna University
  • Acceptance Rate: 93%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$45,610
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $45,610
  • Graduation Rate: 69%
• Michigan State University
  • Acceptance Rate: 84%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$33,900
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $26,100
  • Graduation Rate: 82%
• Michigan Technological University
  • Acceptance Rate: 88%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$36,070
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $19,000
  • Graduation Rate: 70%
• Northwood University
  • Acceptance Rate: 84%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$51,820
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $28,000
  • Graduation Rate: 73%
• Oakland University
  • Acceptance Rate: 70%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$30,410
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $16,700
  • Graduation Rate: 61%
• Rochester University
  • Acceptance Rate: 65%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$45,570
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $20,900
  • Graduation Rate: 48%
• Siena Heights
  • Acceptance Rate: 67%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$48,000
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $18,800
  • Graduation Rate: 68%
• Spring Harbor University
  • Acceptance Rate: 37%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$47,860
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $23,000
  • Graduation Rate: 62%
• University of Detroit Mercy
  • Acceptance Rate: 80%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$49,280
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $19,100
  • Graduation Rate: 72%
• University of Michigan
  • Acceptance Rate: 18%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$36,100
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $20,200
  • Graduation Rate: 93%
• University of Michigan - Dearborn
  
  • Acceptance Rate: 59%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$32,550
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $13,600
  • Graduation Rate: 60%
• Wayne State University
  • Acceptance Rate: 82%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$32,980
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $17,000
  • Graduation Rate: 59%
• Western Michigan University
  • Acceptance Rate: 85%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26:$31,930
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $21,400
  • Graduation Rate: 59%

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.