College profiles, by the numbers

One page per school, built from two public datasets and nothing else: the school’s own Common Data Set filing and the federal College Scorecard. What it weighs in an application, what a year costs at your family’s income, and where graduates land.

Harvard

Harvard admits 4.2% and costs an average $19,066 after aid — less than the median US college. The full 2025-26 admissions data, explained.

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Stanford

Stanford admits 3.8% — the second-lowest rate in our data — and costs an average $13,807 after aid. The full 2025-26 admissions numbers, explained.

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MIT

MIT admits 4.5%, and its graduates post the highest median earnings ten years on of any US college — $143,372. The full 2025-26 numbers, explained.

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Yale

Yale admits 4.75% and rates alumni ties, interviews and interest higher than almost any school. The full 2025-26 numbers, explained.

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Princeton

Princeton admits 4.4% and costs an average $6,128 after aid — the lowest net price of any elite college. The 2025-26 numbers, explained.

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UCLA

UCLA drew 145,086 applications — more than any US school — and admits 9.4%. Real cost by income and outcomes, from 2025-26 data.

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Berkeley

Berkeley admits 11.5% of 126,864 applicants, and its graduates earn a median $92,446 ten years on. Real cost by income and outcomes, from 2025-26 data.

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Michigan

Michigan admits 16.4% of 109,112 applicants — the third-largest pool in the country. Real cost by income and outcomes, from 2025-26 data.

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NYU

NYU admits 9.1% of 114,125 applicants and rates demonstrated interest very important — almost no school does. The 2025-26 numbers.

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Penn

Penn admits 5.4% and rates test scores very important where many peers have stepped back. The full 2025-26 numbers, explained.

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Columbia

Columbia admits 3.86% — second only to Stanford among schools profiled here. Real cost by income, aid and outcomes, explained.

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Duke

Duke admits 5.2%, and 42% of its women join sororities — the highest share of any school profiled here. The 2025-26 numbers.

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USC

USC admits 11.2% of 83,488 applicants and enrols the most international campus profiled here. Cost by income and outcomes, explained.

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Northwestern

Northwestern admits 7.7%, and 76% of its classes have under 20 students, on a 6:1 student-faculty ratio. The numbers, explained.

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UChicago

UChicago admits 4.5% and posts an 88% yield — the highest of any school profiled here. Cost by income, aid and outcomes, explained.

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Brown

Brown admits 5.4% and rates more of your application at the top of its scale than almost any peer. The 2025-26 numbers, explained.

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Dartmouth

Dartmouth admits 6%, charges families under $30,000 about $41 a year, and runs the Ivy League’s biggest Greek scene.

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Cornell

Cornell admits 8.37% — the highest rate in the Ivy League — and is one of few schools not to rate GPA at the top of its scale.

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Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt admits 5.38% and costs an average $15,846 after aid — far below its peers. The 2025-26 numbers, explained.

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Georgetown

Georgetown admits 13.5%, and its lowest-income students earn a mean $150,200 a decade on — the strongest such figure outside medicine.

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Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins admits 6.11%, charges families under $30,000 about $428 a year, and graduates its students with the lowest debt profiled here.

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Rice

Rice admits 8%, runs a 5.61:1 student-faculty ratio, and reports zero Greek membership — residential colleges instead.

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Carnegie Mellon

Carnegie Mellon admits 11.1%, its graduates earn a median $114,862 ten years on, and leave with the highest debt profiled here.

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