Top 10 U.S. Schools for Undergraduate Students
The numbers are in! U.S. News and World Report has released its latest ranking of the best colleges and universities in the United States for 2026. The list is extensive, and the considerations — such as undergraduate majors, master's and doctoral programs, research impact, and admissions rates, to name a few — are numerous. So, we went through and compiled the top 10 schools, complete with the most critical data points, so you don’t have to. Take a look.
Princeton University
Yearly tuition and fees: $65,210
Regular Decision acceptance rate: 4.5%
Single-Choice Early Action acceptance rate: 11.4%
Regular Decision application deadline: January 1, 2026
Single-Choice Early Action application deadline: November 1, 2025
Most popular majors/programs: Social Sciences (like Public Policy, Economics, and Politics), Engineering, Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yearly tuition and fees: $64,730
Regular Action acceptance rate: 3.5%
Early Action acceptance rate: 5.98%
Regular Action application deadline: January 5, 2026
Early Action application deadline: November 1, 2025
Most popular majors/programs: Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Physics
Harvard University
Yearly tuition and fees: $64,796
Regular Decision acceptance rate: 2.7%
Restrictive Early Action acceptance rate: 8.7%
Regular Decision application deadline: January 1, 2026
Restrictive Early Action application deadline: November 1, 2025
Most popular majors/programs: Social Sciences (like Political Science and Government, Economics, History), Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Mathematics
Stanford University
Yearly tuition and fees: $68,544
Overall acceptance rate: 3.6%
Regular Decision application deadline: January 5, 2026
Restrictive Early Action application deadline: November 1, 2025
Most popular majors/programs: Engineering, Computer Science, Biology, Economics, International Relations, Political Science
Yale University
Yearly tuition and fees: $69,900
Regular Decision acceptance rate: 3.63%
Single-Choice Early Action acceptance rate: 10.8%
Regular Decision application deadline: January 2, 2026
Single-Choice Early Action application deadline: November 1, 2025
Most popular majors/programs: Economics, History, Political Science, Computer Science, Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Psychology
University of Chicago
Yearly tuition and fees: $73,266
Overall acceptance rate: 4.5%
Regular Decision application deadline: January 5, 2026
Single-Choice Early Action application deadline: November 3, 2025
Most popular majors/programs: Economics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Biological Sciences, Political Science
Duke University
Yearly tuition and fees: $73,172
Regular Decision acceptance rate: 4.4%
Single-Choice Early Action acceptance rate: 13%
Regular Decision application deadline: January 5, 2026
Single-Choice Early Action application deadline: November 3, 2025
Most popular majors/programs: Public Policy Analysis, Biology, Psychology, Computer Science
Johns Hopkins University
Yearly tuition and fees: $67,170
Regular Decision acceptance rate: 4%
Early Decision acceptance rate: 13.6%
Regular Decision application deadline: January 2, 2026
Early Decision application deadline: November 1, 2025
Most popular majors/programs: Cellular and Molecular Biology, Public Health, Computer Science, Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering
Northwestern University
Yearly tuition and fees: $70,589
Overall acceptance rate: 7%
Regular Decision application deadline: January 2, 2026
Single-Choice Early Action application deadline: November 1, 2025
Most popular majors/programs: Communication, Theatre and Performing Arts, Journalism, Economics, Education, Digital Media
University of Pennsylvania
Yearly tuition and fees: $71,236
Regular Decision acceptance rate: 4.9%
Early Decision acceptance rate: 15.6%
Regular Decision application deadline: January 5, 2026
Early Decision application deadline: November 1, 2025
Most popular majors/programs: Business (like Management, Finance, and Marketing), Healthcare, Computer Science, Biology
As you can see, the acceptance rates for each of these top universities are consistently low. This means that competition is steep, and only those students whose applications stand out above the rest have a chance of getting in. High school students with ambitious goals of gaining admission to these Ivy League and Ivy League adjacent schools should be doing everything in their power to improve their GPAs, polish their test scores, and enhance their Common Application profiles with strong, relevant extracurricular activities. A student’s involvement outside of school is particularly helpful to admissions officers who are eager to find top candidates.
That’s why our upcoming webinar, How to Get Into HYPSM (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT): The Power of Research, focuses on just that. We’ve invited admissions expert Marianna Irizarry, a former Admissions Reader at Stanford University, to speak to webinar attendees about how extracurricular activities, especially academic research, can give ambitious students a competitive edge in the admissions process. She’ll discuss HYPSM data and trends, offer insider advice on what these top colleges and universities are really looking for, and more. Get ahead of the admissions curve and register for free today. Your acceptance letter awaits.