These MN Colleges Earned Top Score On New National Ranking

MINNESOTA — Several Minnesota 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 Minnesota include:

• Bethel University (Saint Paul, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 91%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $43,630
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $32,200
  • Graduation Rate: 72%
• Carleton College (Northfield, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 22%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $88,100
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $31,200
  • Graduation Rate: 91%
• College of Saint Benedict (Saint Joseph, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 91%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $71,130
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $31,500
  • Graduation Rate: 77%
• Concordia College at Moorhead (Moorhead, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 63%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $47,940
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $27,000
  • Graduation Rate: 74%
• Concordia University–Saint Paul (Saint Paul, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 75%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $43,380
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $19,100
  • Graduation Rate: 59%
• Gustavus Adolphus College (Saint Peter, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 62%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $70,230
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $30,600
  • Graduation Rate: 78%
• Macalester College (Saint Paul, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 28%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $86,120
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $40,900
  • Graduation Rate: 90%
• Martin Luther College (New Ulm, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 83%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $30,350
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $22,400
  • Graduation Rate: 72%
• North Central University (Minneapolis, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 91%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $46,150
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $25,100
  • Graduation Rate: 55%
• Saint John's University (Collegeville, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 90%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $71,160
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $31,300
  • Graduation Rate: 79%
• Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota (Winona, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 89%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $59,550
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $23,900
  • Graduation Rate: 66%
• St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 52%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $74,580
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $29,000
  • Graduation Rate: 85%
• The College of Saint Scholastica (Duluth, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 94%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $57,830
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $25,400
  • Graduation Rate: 72%
• University of Minnesota–Crookston (Crookston, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 58%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $27,680
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $14,300
  • Graduation Rate: 59%
• University of Minnesota–Duluth (Duluth, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 82%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $29,030
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $20,700
  • Graduation Rate: 65%
• University of Minnesota–Morris (Morris, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 70%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $28,500
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $10,100
  • Graduation Rate: 60%
• University of Minnesota–Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 77%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $34,110
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $17,800
  • Graduation Rate: 83%
• University of Northwestern–St. Paul (Saint Paul, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 92%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $54,230
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $28,400
  • Graduation Rate: 68%
• University of St. Thomas (Saint Paul, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 85%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $71,410
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $34,600
  • Graduation Rate: 77%
• Winona State University (Winona, MN)
  • Acceptance Rate: 69%
  • Est. Full Price 2025–26: $24,870
  • Est. Price with Average Aid: $20,100
  • Graduation Rate: 64%

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.

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