Colleges that provide most value for 2025

Parents and students continue to confront the rising cost of college education in America, and getting the most bang for their buck is a key factor in deciding which institution they are best suited for.

Niche, a website for education data and reviews, ranked more than 1,000 four-year colleges and universities for its “2025 Best Value Colleges in America” list, which features schools large and small, public and private, including Ivys. 

It determined the order of its 2025 list by looking at a slew of metrics such as average net price, average return on investment by age 30, economic mobility, student surveys on value and median earnings six years after graduation that have each been assigned weights.

The top 10 of Niche’s “2025 Best Value Colleges in America” list was evenly split between the East and West coasts.

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The top 10 of Niche’s “2025 Best Value Colleges in America” list was evenly split between the East and West Coast.

The schools that the website ranked most highly for value included:

1. Harvey Mudd College

Harvey Mudd College describes itself as “one of the premier engineering, science and mathematics colleges” in America. The college, founded in the 1950s, also received the No. 1 ranking in Niche’s “2025 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in America” list and placed second on its ranking of small U.S. colleges.

2. Stanford University

A view of the campus of Stanford University including Hoover tower as seen from Stanford Stadium on Sept. 16, 2023 in Palo Alto, California. (David Madison/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Niche pegged the percentage of Stanford alums with jobs two years after graduating at 94%. The median its graduates earn annually six years out of school is $94,000, according to the website.

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3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Great Dome on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge on July 3, 2024 from the Charles River Esplanade in Boston. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology accepts roughly 4% of applicants. Niche also gave MIT the title of the school with the best academics for 2025.

4. California Institute of Technology

The campus scene at California Institute of Technology, Caltech, in Pasadena, California. (Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)

CalTech reported more than 1,000 enrolled students for the fall semester of the 2023-2024 school year. Its graduation rate is 94%, according to Niche.

5. Yale University

Davenport College at Yale University on Sept. 28, 2022, in New Haven, Connecticut. (Stan Godlewski for The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Yale is one of the eight Ivy League universities. Its graduates tend to get paid $56,000 straight out of school, Niche reported.

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6. Harvard University

Harvard banners hang outside Memorial Church on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Getty Images)

Tuition at Harvard, another Ivy League university, costs $56,550 for the 2024-2025 academic year, not counting housing, food and other expenses, according to its website.

7. Claremont McKenna College

The campus of Claremont McKenna College on April 12, 2021, in Claremont, California. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Claremont McKenna College is located in Claremont, a city not far from Los Angeles. Ten percent of people who apply to the school are accepted, Niche said.

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8. Pomona College

The grounds of the Pomona College Campus in California. (Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The net price to attend Pomona College is $19,962, according to Niche. It was found to be the second-best liberal arts college in the country behind Harvey Mudd, according to Niche’s rankings.

9. Princeton University

Buyers Hall at Princeton University in New Jersey. (Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Alumni of this Ivy League school located in New Jersey are paid salaries of $60,000 in their first year out of school, according to Niche. After six years, median alumni salaries are reportedly $74,700.

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10. University of Pennsylvania

Locust Walk with students in fall at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. (Jumping Rocks/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)

In addition to ranking Penn as No. 10 for best value, Niche dubbed the university the best in the U.S. for business.