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But there's also another factor that's important when it comes to choosing a school: location. So we narrowed the list down to shine a light on the best colleges the Northeast has to offer.
For the ranking, we decided to shy away from a school's reputation and selectivity and focused on the overall college experience for students and how well-prepared they are for the future. We looked at data made available by the government for post-graduate earnings as well as graduation rate. We then looked to Niche, a company that compiles research on schools, to find information about the student-life experience at each school. You can read more about the methodology here.
Scroll down to find out the 23 best schools in the Northeast.
23. Villanova University
Location: Villanova, Pennsylvania
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $73,700
Average SAT score: 1316
Student life score: B+
Villanova University is a Catholic Augustinian university located west of Philadelphia. Inspired by the tagline, “Ignite change. Go Nova,” students are encouraged to take part in helping the community outside the classroom — students provide nearly 250,000 hours of community service annually. The school also offers 45 majors among its four colleges and the student-faculty ratio is 12:1, which allows undergraduates to really get to know their professors.
22. Babson College
Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $85,500
Average SAT score: 1258
Student life score: B+
A leader in entrepreneurial education, Babson College equips students with the skills to innovate, experiment, and lead in the business world and beyond. The private college has produced numerous successful entrepreneurs in its nearly 100-year history, including Arthur Blank, the cofounder and former president of Home Depot who is the eponym of the college's on-campus entrepreneurship hub.
21. Hamilton College
Location: Clinton, New York
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $57,300
Average SAT score: 1384
Student life score: A
Hamilton College takes its name from founding father Alexander Hamilton, who served as one of the school's original trustees in 1793 when he was the US secretary of the Treasury. More than 200 years later, Hamilton is still going strong: One year after graduation, at least 91% of the class of 2014 had secured a full-time job or internship or were enrolled in graduate school. For those who entered the workforce, employers included companies such as General Electric, Amazon, and The New York Times.
20. New York University
Location: New York City
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $58,800
Average SAT score: 1352
Student life score: A+
NYU enrolls more international students than any other American university. Interestingly, the 25,000-student private college — whose sprawling urban campus has been a New York City cornerstone for 185 years — also sends the highest number of students overseas for study-abroad programs.
19. Amherst College
Location: Amherst, Massachusetts
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $56,800
Average SAT score: 1434
Student life score: A
Amherst College offers an open curriculum — students design a schedule full of the courses that interest them, granting the flexibility to double major or explore multiple interests. Graduates join a bevy of nearly 23,000 living alumni whom they can network with directly even before graduation through Pathways, a mentorship program that helps students arrange one-on-one meetings and on-site job shadowing.
18. Bucknell University
Location: Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $68,800
Average SAT score: 1306
Student life score: A-
With an undergraduate enrollment of just 3,600 students, Bucknell offers an intimate learning environment and a robust liberal-arts curriculum that prioritizes undergraduate research. The selective private college was founded 170 years ago as the University of Lewisburg and was renamed 40 years later in honor of benefactor William Bucknell.
17. Middlebury College
Location: Middlebury, Vermont
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $53,400
Average SAT score: 1391
Student life score: A-
Founded in 1800, Middlebury offers 850 courses and 44 majors. Most notable is the school's international studies and language programs. Students looking to become proficient in a language can enroll in Middlebury Language Schools, a summer program where they'll focus on one of the 11 offered languages.
16. Williams College
Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $58,100
Average SAT score: 1439
Student life score: A
At Williams College, civic engagement is part of the core mission, and the school aims to heighten each student's ability to improve his or her community, as exemplified through local outreach programs and alternative spring break trips. Students also gain hands-on experience through experiential courses, which range from teaching fourth-graders about zebrafish to public speaking to learning traditional Thai silk and cotton weaving.
15. Boston University
Location: Boston
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $60,600
Average SAT score: 1279
Student life score: A+
For nearly 150 years, Boston University has been a pioneer of higher education. In 1873, BU became the first university to accept women into its medical program; in 1875, BU professor Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in a campus lab; and in 1947, the school established the US's first academic program for public relations. BU remains one of the country's top research universities, with especially strong support for undergraduate research.
14. Lehigh University
Location: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $76,800
Average SAT score: 1322
Student life score: A
Each year, students at Lehigh University partake in several longstanding traditions, from racing beds during Spirit Week to the school's fierce rivalry football game against nearby Lafayette College. Lehigh's class of 2015 went on to careers at elite companies, with top employers including Ernst & Young, IBM, and ExxonMobil.
13. Boston College
Location: Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Median salary 10 years after enrolling $67,000
Average SAT score: 1375
Student life score: A
Known as "The Heights" because of its location on Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a Jesuit school dedicated to its Catholic mission of "faith and service." What started as a small commuter school has grown into eight schools and colleges. Some of BC's most notable alumni include US Secretary of State John Kerry and actress Amy Poehler.
12. Dartmouth College
Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $67,100
Average SAT score: 1446
Student life score: A-
Dartmouth encourages students to pursue a globally focused education, and the school's flexible calendar — made up of four 10-week terms — lets students decide which seasons to spend on campus and which to take off to travel, volunteer, complete an internship, or conduct research. The Office of Undergraduate Research connects students with faculty mentors, helping any undergraduate interested in research find a project to pursue.
11. Tufts University
Location: Medford, Massachusetts
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $67,800
Average SAT score: 1428
Student life score: A
Tufts University is made up of three undergraduate schools: the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts. Students have the option to choose from about 150 majors and minors and participate in one or more of Tuft's 341 student organizations. In the Experimental College, students go beyond the typical classroom environment, taking courses such as "Circus and Society" or "American Witches."
10. Bowdoin College
Location: Brunswick, Maine
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $54,800
Average SAT score: 1423
Student life score: A+
At Bowdoin College, the second-ranked liberal-arts school on our list, first-year students can choose from 35 first-year seminars and are required to take a course in each of five general subject areas. As for postgraduation, Bowdoin's 1,500-member alumni Career Advisory Network helps prepare students for their future careers.
9. Brown University
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $59,700
Average SAT score: 1425
Student life score: A+
Brown students have the freedom to personalize their liberal-arts course study, a practice the school calls "open curriculum." Brown was founded in 1764 on the then-unprecedented idea of accepting students regardless of religion. It was also the first Ivy League school to establish an undergraduate engineering program in 1847.
8. Colgate University
Location: Hamilton, New York
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $61,500
Average SAT score: 1370
Student life score: A+
Colgate University boasts a student-to-faculty ratio of nine to one, allowing its students to work closely with the school's distinguished professors. The school offers more than 20 off-campus study groups — a study-abroad-like experience in which Colgate faculty lead a course at an international institution. Also focused on sustainability, Colgate pledged to diminish its carbon footprint and become "climate neutral" by 2019.
7. Cornell University
Location: Ithaca, New York
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $70,900
Average SAT score: 1422
Student life score: A+
The Ivy League school located in upstate New York was the first to establish a four-year hotel-administration school, and it was the first university in the US to offer an American studies program. Big Red, as it is nicknamed, offers nearly 80 majors including engineering, architecture, and agricultural sciences. Its College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is the second-largest undergraduate college at the university.
6. Columbia University
Location: New York City
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $72,900
Average SAT score: 1471
Student life score: A+
The oldest university in the state, Columbia called several locations across New York City home after its founding in 1754 — including a schoolhouse adjacent to Trinity Church in the financial district and a 40-year occupation in Midtown — before settling into its iconic campus on 116th Street. Students who wish to continue their education past their undergraduate years can look to Columbia's renowned graduate programs in business, law, and journalism.
5. University of Pennsylvania
Location: Philadelphia
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $78,200
Average SAT score: 1442
Student life score: A+
Founded in 1740, the University of Pennsylvania stands as one of the most selective schools in the US, accepting just 10.2% of applicants. During their time at UPenn, students can take advantage of the school's vast resources, including 6.38 million books, 1.16 million e-books, and 136 research centers and institutes, which are accompanied by an annual research budget of $878 million to boot.
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $91,600
Average SAT score: 1503
Student life score: A+
The country's most renowned engineering school, MIT sees 22% of undergraduates go on to pursue jobs in the field. Graduates secure positions at tech powerhouses such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Oracle. Even more impressive, the MIT community includes 85 Nobel laureates, 58 National Medal of Science winners, and 29 National Medal of Technology and Innovation winners.
3. Yale University
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $66,000
Average SAT score: 1497
Student life score: A+
The second-oldest Ivy League school, Yale aims to provide students with a strong liberal-arts education. Its undergraduate college puts an emphasis on four areas — arts, sciences, international studies, and writing — and offers more than 70 majors, including astronomy, theater studies, and economics. It's also one of the hardest schools to get into, with an acceptance rate of just 6%.
2. Harvard University
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $87,200
Average SAT score: 1501
Student life score: A+
Synonymous with prestige since its founding 380 years ago, Harvard University remains one of the most respected schools in the world — and a degree from the college reflects that. Though Harvard's annual tuition (including fees and room and board) is a steep $60,659, nearly 70% of students receive some type of financial aid — thanks to the school's $37.6 billion endowment — trimming the average student's annual net cost to just over $14,000.
1. Princeton University
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Median salary 10 years after enrolling: $75,100
Average SAT score: 1495
Student life score: A+
Princeton has trained a barrage of successful graduates, including 15 Nobel Prize winners, 10 National Humanities Medal winners, and 21 National Medal of Science winners. The prestigious Ivy League institution also counts President John F. Kennedy, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and author F. Scott Fitzgerald among its many distinguished alumni.
