These PA Colleges Earned Top Score On New National Ranking

Several Pennsylvania 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.

A total of 22 schools from Pennsylvania scored 4, 4.5, or 5 stars. The University of Pennsylvania was the only 5 star school on the list. Those high ranking schools in Pennsylvania include:

Bryn Mawr College
4 stars
31% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $86,390
Estimated price with average aid: $41,800
Graduation rate: 87 percent

Bucknell University
4.5 stars
32% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $86,950
Estimated price with average aid: $40,800
Graduation rate: 88percent

Carnegie Mellon University
4.5 stars
11% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $86,860
Estimated price with average aid: $35,000
Graduation rate: 89 percent

Dickinson College
4 stars
43% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $86,370
Estimated price with average aid: $42,700
Graduation rate: 82 percent

Drexel University
4 stars
78% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $84,490
Estimated price with average aid: $44,900
Graduation rate: 79 percent

Franklin and Marshal College
4 stars
32% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $89,270
Estimated price with average aid: $39,800
Graduation rate: 82 percent

Gettysburg College
4 stars
48% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $85,050
Estimated price with average aid: $37,900
Graduation rate: 82 percent

Haverford College
4 stars
13% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $93,790
Estimated price with average aid: $24,200
Graduation rate: 90 percent

Holy Family University
4 stars
74% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $62,850
Estimated price with average aid: $13,800
Graduation rate: 82 percent

Immaculata University
4 stars
78% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $47,430
Estimated price with average aid: $31,300
Graduation rate: 70 percent

Lafayette College

4.5 stars
31% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $86,510
Estimated price with average aid: $36,900
Graduation rate: 88 percent

Lehigh University
4.5 stars
29% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $84,210
Estimated price with average aid: $35,300
Graduation rate: 87 percent

Lycoming College
4 stars
68% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $68,240
Estimated price with average aid: $22,000
Graduation rate: 65 percent

Muhlenberg College
4 stars
64% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $80,780
Estimated price with average aid: $33,800
Graduation rate: 80 percent

Saint Francis University
4 stars
77% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $62,890
Estimated price with average aid: $29,100
Graduation rate: 72 percent

Saint Joseph's University
4 stars
86% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $72,230
Estimated price with average aid: $36,600
Graduation rate: 81 percent

Saint Vincent College
4 stars
59% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $60,520
Estimated price with average aid: $25,300
Graduation rate: 74 percent

Swarthmore College

4.5 stars
7% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $87,280
Estimated price with average aid: $19,000
Graduation rate: 94 percent

University of Pennsylvania
5 stars
6% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $92,390
Estimated price with average aid: $27,600
Graduation rate: 96 percent

University of Scranton
4 stars
84% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $75,130
Estimated price with average aid: $34,100
Graduation rate: 78 percent

Villanova University

4.5 stars
25% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $88,210
Estimated price with average aid: $40,300
Graduation rate: 92 percent

Washington and Jefferson College
4.5 stars
82% acceptance rate
Estimated full coast: $45,970
Estimated price with average aid: $27,600
Graduation rate: 78 percent

Money looks at about two dozen data points to assemble the final lists, which were weighted by affordability (40 percent). 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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