2025 Best Colleges for Arabic
February 23, 2025
Arabic is one of the world鈥檚 most commonly spoken languages with as many as 420 million native speakers around the globe; it is the official language of 20 countries. Of course, with the Middle East being a perpetual hotspot in the eyes of the United States government, the ability to speak Arabic carries a premium with organizations like the , the , and the . Couple that with the business interests of many multinational corporations in the region, and many successful Arabic majors have a long line of employers competing for their services. Yet, you need to be prepared for a challenge while earning that degree鈥攖he Foreign Service Institute ranks Arabic as one of the most challenging languages to learn, right alongside Korean, Cantonese, and Japanese. This list of Best Colleges for Arabic Majors includes elite schools like Dartmouth, Georgetown, and Notre Dame but also a number of a state universities that are more within reach for B students.
Finally, note that although some of the colleges featured below do not offer a formal major in Arabic, their undergraduate offerings in this subject area are so strong that they warrant inclusion on our list.
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Click here to read our methodology for the Best Colleges with Arabic.
Best Colleges with Arabic
Here鈥檚 a quick preview of the first ten Arabic institutions that made our list. Detailed profiles and stats can be found when you scroll below.
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All of the schools profiled below have stellar reputations in the field of Arabic and commit substantial resources to undergraduate education. For each of the best Arabic colleges, 国产第一福利影院草草 will provide you with鈥攚hen available鈥攖he school鈥檚:
- Enrollment
- Cost of Attendance
- Acceptance Rate
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- 惭别诲颈补苍听础颁罢
- Retention Rate
- Graduation Rate
We will also include a longer write-up of each college鈥檚:
- Academic Highlights 鈥 Includes facts like student-to-faculty ratio, average class size, number of majors offered, and most popular majors.
- Professional Outcomes 鈥 Includes info on the rate of positive outcomes, companies employing alumni, and graduate school acceptances.
United States Naval Academy
- Annapolis, MD
Academic Highlights: Close to three-quarters of course sections will contain fewer than 20 students, and the student-to-faculty ratio is a stellar 8:1. Undergraduate research can be accessed through research-focused courses, design projects, or the Trident Scholar Research Program, an independent study conducted during senior year. All in all, 117 midshipmen presented posters at last year鈥檚 Midshipman Research Poster Session. Many midshipmen have the chance to study abroad, and over 300 do each year through programs like the Semester Study Abroad Program or Language Immersion Program.
Professional Outcomes: USNA midshipmen have a mandatory five-year military commitment upon graduating, so the vast majority immediately become ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps. Very few are cleared to enter graduate school directly after receiving their bachelor’s. However, upon entering civilian employment/life, alumni flock to companies that include Booz Allen Hamilton, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Amazon, Microsoft, and Deloitte. They also enjoy some of the highest average salaries of any alumni group in the country.
- Enrollment: 4,465
- Cost of Attendance: $0
- Median SAT: 1300
- Median ACT: 28
- Acceptance Rate: 9%
- Retention Rate: 96%
- Graduation Rate: 92%
University of Notre Dame
- Notre Dame, IN
Academic Highlights: 75 majors are offered across six undergraduate colleges. A solid 61% of courses enroll fewer than 20 students, and 18% have single-digit numbers. Just 9% of courses have an enrollment of more than 50 undergrads. The Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement offers hundreds of opportunities for conducting research, both individually and alongside faculty; more than one-third of graduates ultimately partake. One of the top universities for study abroad participation, 87% of Notre Dame undergrads select one of 50+ programs in 35 countries; the satisfaction rate for study abroad experiences is above 90%.
Professional Outcomes: A spectacular 98% of 2023 Notre Dame graduates were employed, continuing their educations, volunteering, or serving in the military within six months of completing their degrees. Top companies where recent alumni set up shop included Deloitte, EY, PwC, Microsoft, Amazon, Bank of America, KPMG, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and McKinsey & Co. The median starting salary across all majors is $82,000, a mark that is significantly higher than the national average for college grads. The highest concentration of recent alumni can be found in Illinois followed by New York, Indiana, California, and Texas.
- Enrollment: 8,968
- Cost of Attendance: $83,271
- Median SAT: 1500
- Median ACT: 34
- Acceptance Rate: 12%
- Retention Rate: 98%
- Graduation Rate: 97%
University of California, Los Angeles
- Los Angeles, CA
Academic Highlights: Close to half of classrooms contain fewer than twenty Bruins, but those taking introductory courses will find themselves in a fair number of lecture halls with a hundred or more students. Professors are given impressively high marks for a research university of UCLA鈥檚 size. 93% of College of Letters and Science seniors rate their professors as being intellectually challenging. By the time they graduate, 45% of undergraduates have participated in a research experience. Every year, roughly one-quarter of the undergraduate population elects to study abroad, a sharp increase from only a few years ago. UCLA has 115 partner universities in 40+ countries around the globe.
Professional Outcomes: Thousands of alumni can be found working at Google, Amazon, and Apple. Companies that employ over 100 Bruins each include Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, TikTok, NVIDIA, and LinkedIn.聽Ultimately, one-third of UCLA grads go on to enroll in graduate/professional school, with many choosing to stay at their alma mater. Otherwise, the most attended grad schools are primarily other excellent California-based institutions including Stanford, USC, and Berkeley. For graduates early in their careers, the median salary is $78,600, with mid-career median earnings reaching over $149k. Many alumni remain in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area after graduating; other popular destinations include the San Francisco Bay area and New York City.
- Enrollment: 33,040
- Cost of Attendance: $38,031 (In-State); $68,808 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: Test Blind
- Median ACT: Test Blind
- Acceptance Rate: 9%
- Retention Rate: 97%
- Graduation Rate: 93%
United States Military Academy
- West Point, NY
Academic Highlights: There are 36 majors at West Point, and students must conquer a minimum of 13 courses within their area of study as well as 24-27 courses in West Point’s core academic program. A 7:1 student-to-faculty ratio is also among the better figures you鈥檒l see. This level of support and availability helps lead to an outstanding 97% first-year student retention rate. Almost 98% of class sections at West Point enroll fewer than 20 students.
Professional Outcomes: West Point graduates must honor their eight-year military commitment (five years of active duty, three in the reserves), and many continue their military careers beyond those requirements. When they do enter the workforce, large numbers of alumni land at Amazon, Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Google, and Wells Fargo, enjoying a median mid-career salary of $174,100. With military duties to fulfill, only a small percentage of cadets matriculate directly into graduate programs.
- Enrollment: 4,508
- Cost of Attendance: $0
- Median SAT: 1330
- Median ACT: 31
- Acceptance Rate: 14%
- Retention Rate: 96%
- Graduation Rate: 85%
Brigham Young University
- Provo, UT
Academic Highlights: Required coursework for BYU undergraduates includes a number of courses in the Mormon faith as well as an extensive core curriculum that supports BYU鈥檚 larger mission 鈥渢o provide an education that is (1) spiritually strengthening, (2) intellectually enlarging, and (3) character building, leading to (4) lifelong learning and service.鈥澛 A 21:1 student-to-faculty ratio translates to some undergraduate sections being a bit large. However, those lecture hall courses are balanced with classes of more modest size; 46% of courses have nineteen or fewer students. The聽school does an excellent job getting undergraduate students involved in hands-on research.
Professional Outcomes: By a wide margin, the two largest employers of BYU alums are the university itself and Intermountain Healthcare. However, there are hundreds of Cougars working at major corporations including Deloitte, Raytheon Technologies, Goldman Sachs, and Amazon. The median salary of a 2023 grad was $64,000. Brigham Young is in the same league with Berkeley, Cornell, the University of Michigan, and the University of Wisconsin in terms of producing future PhDs. Over the past decade, more than 3,000 alumni have gone on to earn doctoral degrees.
- Enrollment: 32,221
- Cost of Attendance: $22,992
- Median SAT: 1360
- Median ACT: 30
- Acceptance Rate: 69%
- Retention Rate: 89%
- Graduation Rate: 82%
Georgetown University
- Washington, D.C.
Academic Highlights: For a large university with a heavy presence of graduate students, Georgetown maintains a personalized and intimate learning environment. The student-faculty ratio is 11:1, and 62% of classes enroll fewer than 20 students. While some classes are a bit larger, only 6% cross the 50-student threshold. There are many ways that students can seek funding for independent research projects or become an assistant to faculty members via the Georgetown Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. Summer research can lead to the completion of a senior thesis that can be presented at the College Academic Council Research Colloquium every spring. Each year, 1,000+ Hoya undergrads participate in one of the school鈥檚 200+ study abroad programs that are spread across 50+ countries.
Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduating, 72% of members of the Class of 2023 entered the workforce, 20% went directly into a graduate or professional program of study, and 5% were still seeking employment. The Class of 2023 sent graduates to a number of major corporations including Bank of America (18), JP Morgan Chase (18), Deloitte (15), Citi (13), and Morgan Stanley (13). Those attending grad school stay at Georgetown or flock to other elite schools like Columbia and NYU. By far, New York and remaining in DC are the two most popular postgraduate destinations, although a fair number also migrate to Virginia, California, Massachusetts, Texas, and Maryland. The financial picture for Georgetown graduates is rosy. Average starting salaries fall well above the national average.
- Enrollment: 7,968
- Cost of Attendance: $88,741
- Median SAT: 1500
- Median ACT: 33
- Acceptance Rate: 13%
- Retention Rate: 97%
- Graduation Rate: 94%
Davidson College
- Davidson, NC
Academic Highlights: With its small size, the impressive part of the college is the exceptional quality of its offerings, not the breadth of them, as only 37 majors are available. The student-to-faculty ratio is 9:1, which allows the college to ensure that 69% have fewer than twenty students and 29% have enrollments you can count on two hands. Overall, the average number of students per class is only 17. Study abroad is encouraged, and approximately 65% elect to study in one of 125 programs around the globe. Undergrads working side-by-side with their professors is commonplace as over 60% of faculty have published with student coauthors at some point.
Professional Outcomes: Looking at the outcomes data for recent grads, 67% landed jobs within six months of graduation, 24% were enrolled in a graduate program, and 6% were still seeking employment. Employers of the largest number of Davidson grads include Carolina Healthcare System, Teach for America, the NIH, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. Significant numbers of students pursue advanced degrees at other Southern gems including Vanderbilt, Emory, Duke, Wake Forest, and UNC. There is also a fair showing of Ivy League acceptances in all graduate disciplines among Wildcat alumni.
- Enrollment: 1,904
- Cost of Attendance: $79,475
- Median SAT: 1455
- Median ACT: 32
- Acceptance Rate: 14%
- Retention Rate: 95%
- Graduation Rate: 92%
Middlebury College
- Middlebury, VT
Academic Highlights: Middlebury offers over 50 majors and the school鈥檚 9:1 student-faculty ratio allows 100% of courses to be taught by professors, not graduate assistants. Most classes are small; the mean class size is 16, and 15% of sections contain fewer than 10 students. The聽Summer Research at Middlebury program funds 130 students annually to work alongside faculty in a variety of disciplines. Each year, more than 50% of juniors take a semester abroad in one of 75 programs in 40 countries. The college鈥檚 robust international program includes Middlebury Schools Abroad in Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay.
Professional Outcomes: Six months after graduating, 74% of the Class of 2023 had landed jobs and 14% were in graduate school. Google and Meta are now two of the leading employers of alumni alongside Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, Amazon, and JP Morgan. More than 100 alumni work in the US State Department and more than two dozen presently work for Apple, Microsoft, McKinsey, and Credit Suisse. New York City, Boston, Washington, DC, and San Francisco claim the greatest numbers of Panther alumni.
- Enrollment: 2,800
- Cost of Attendance: $85,880
- Median SAT: 1490
- Median ACT: 34
- Acceptance Rate: 10%
- Retention Rate: 94%
- Graduation Rate: 93%
Emory University
- Atlanta, GA
Academic Highlights: This midsize university offers a diverse array of majors (80+) and minors (60+), and 30% of Emory students pursue more than one area of study. Over half of Emory鈥檚 student body works directly with a faculty member on academic research and 58% of courses have class sizes of under twenty students. Studying abroad is a fairly common feature of an Emory education, with 40% of students traveling to one of 100 international destinations.
Professional Outcomes: Shortly after graduation, 59% of 2023 grads were already employed, and 99% had arrived at their next destination. The top employers of recent Emory grads include Epic, NIH, Capital One, Fulbright US Student Program, Amazon, and Deloitte. The average starting salary was $61k.聽 In the last few years, multiple Emory grads/alums received acceptance letters from the following top schools – Columbia, UPenn, Yale, the University of Chicago, and Vanderbilt. While a healthy number of Emory grads found employment in Georgia, the top destinations for the Class of 2023 included non-Southern locales in New York City, DC, LA, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
- Enrollment: 7,359
- Cost of Attendance: $83,622
- Median SAT: 1520
- Median ACT: 33
- Acceptance Rate: 11%
- Retention Rate: 96%
- Graduation Rate: 92%
Duke University
- Durham, NC
Academic Highlights: Class sizes are on the small side鈥74% are nineteen or fewer, and almost one-quarter are less than ten. A stellar 5:1 student-to-faculty ratio helps keep classes so reasonable even while catering to five figures worth of graduate students. The Undergraduate Research Support Office does great work connecting students with opportunities to conduct research, either over the summer or during the regular school year. All told, more than half of undergraduates conduct research. More Duke students pursue a semester abroad than students at any other top ten research institution鈥攔oughly half elect to venture off to one of the school鈥檚 300 partner programs scattered around the world.
Professional Outcomes: At graduation, approximately 76% of Duke diploma-earners enter the world of work, 17% continue into graduate schools, and 7% start their own businesses. Companies employing multiple Duke grads per year include Google, Capital One, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Accenture, and a host of other top-shelf corporations in the areas of technology, finance, and consulting. Eventually, 84% of Duke undergraduates will go on to earn an advanced degree One-third of Duke alumni elect to stay in North Carolina. New York, California, DC, and Massachusetts follow in聽popularity.
- Enrollment: 6,488
- Cost of Attendance: $87,072
- SAT Median: 1550
- ACT Median: 34
- Acceptance Rate: 7%
- Retention Rate: 96%
- Graduation Rate: 96%
Kenyon College
- Gambier, OH
Academic Highlights: Kenyon offers 50 majors, minors, and concentrations that allow students to complete their education with few non-departmental core requirements. The student-faculty ratio is 9-to-1, and the average class size is 15. Nineteen percent of classes are even more intimate, offering single-digit enrollments. Summer research programs available to students include the Kenyon Summer Scholars Program, a joint program with Ohio State, and the Summer Science Program that sees more than thirty student-professor pairs collaborate on research for an eight- to ten-week period. A stunning 100% of recent alumni state that they learned to write better while at Kenyon. Roughly half of each junior class packs up its bags and heads off to a distant land for a semester abroad.
Professional Outcomes: Top industries for Kenyon graduates include business development, education, media/communication, operations, and community/social services. Recent grads landed positions at major corporations Deloitte, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Oracle, and Wells Fargo. Eighteen percent of grads enroll directly in graduate school, and within five years of completing their undergraduate degree at Kenyon, 60% pursue further education. Recent grads have been welcomed into top law schools at Yale, NYU, Berkeley, Stanford, UVA, Michigan, and the University of Chicago.
- Enrollment: 2,184
- Cost of Attendance: $87,590
- Median SAT: 1440
- Median ACT: 32
- Acceptance Rate: 31%
- Retention Rate: 91%
- Graduation Rate: 87%
Cornell University
- Ithaca, NY
Academic Highlights: Classes are a bit larger at Cornell than at many other elite institutions. Still, 54% of sections have fewer than 20 students. Introductory courses sometimes take place in larger lecture halls, so 24% of courses have an enrollment of more than forty students. Undergraduates do give their professors generally high marks: 88% report being satisfied with the instruction they have received, 48% report completing a thesis/research project, and 53% conducted research with a faculty member. Members of Big Red can choose from study abroad opportunities in more than forty countries, and roughly one-third participate.
Professional Outcomes: Breaking down the graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest school at Cornell, 63% entered the workforce, 26% entered graduate school, 2% pursued other endeavors such as travel or volunteer work, and the remaining 4% were still seeking employment six months after receiving their diplomas. Graduates earned a median salary of $85,000. Of the students from A&S going on to graduate school, 13% pursued JDs, 4% MDs, and 25% PhDs. Popular destinations included staying at Cornell, other Ivies, Stanford, MIT, universities in the UC system, or abroad at Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Toronto, or the University of St. Andrews
- Enrollment: 16,051
- Cost of Attendance: $88,140
- Median SAT: 1520
- Median ACT: 34
- Acceptance Rate: 8%
- Retention Rate: 98%
- Graduation Rate: 95%
The Ohio State University 鈥 Columbus
- Columbus, OH
Academic Highlights: There are 250+ undergraduate majors and 18 schools and colleges housed within OSU. A 17-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio leads to fairly large classes as only 40% of sections enroll fewer than 20 students, so expect a fair number of courses in a large lecture hall setting. Still, aggressive students can find opportunities to work closely with faculty. The Office of Undergraduate Research & Inquiry helps approximately 600 students per year participate in undergraduate research forums. All told, approximately 20% of students gain research experience. Last year, nearly 1,800 undergraduates elected to study abroad in one of 350+ short- and long-term programs spread across 70 countries; OSU has the third-highest study abroad enrollment numbers in the Big 10.
Professional Outcomes: Upon receiving their diplomas, 64% of Class of 2023 graduates entered the world of employment while 14% were already accepted into graduate or professional school.聽 Hordes of Buckeyes can be found at many of the nation鈥檚 leading companies. More than 2,000 alumni work for JPMorgan Chase, and more than 500 work for Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Of the grads who directly matriculate into graduate or professional school, many continue in one of OSU鈥檚 own programs.
- Enrollment: 45,728
- Cost of Attendance: $31,231 (In-State); $56,737 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: 1400
- Median ACT: 31
- Acceptance Rate: 51%
- Retention Rate: 94%
- Graduation Rate: 88%
Bucknell University
- Lewisburg, PA
Academic Highlights: Getting well-acquainted with your professors is easy with a 9:1 student-faculty ratio, and class sizes are reasonably small. Slightly more than half of courses at Bucknell unfold in a classroom of no more than nineteen students, and approximately 90% of all sections enroll fewer than twenty-nine students. All of Bucknell鈥檚 full-time professors spend some of their time teaching undergraduates. More than 500 take advantage of research opportunities on campus
Professional Outcomes: Nine months after graduation, 93% of Bucknell’s most recent graduating class had launched their careers or entered graduate school. Across all disciplines, the average salary for a聽 grad was $72,735,聽 which is well above average when compared to other liberal arts colleges. Geographically, most Bucknell grads remain concentrated in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and the DC metro area.
- Enrollment: 3,846
- Cost of Attendance: $83,790
- Median SAT: 1370
- Median ACT: 32
- Acceptance Rate: 32%
- Retention Rate: 96%
- Graduation Rate: 86%
University of Maryland, College Park
- College Park, MD
Academic Highlights: Undergraduates can select from 100+ majors across twelve colleges and schools. 47% of class sections enroll fewer than twenty students. Undergraduate research opportunities are within reach as 21% of recent graduates completed one. The Office of Undergraduate Research facilitates numerous opportunities throughout the year, and hosts an annual Undergraduate Research Day and Summer Undergraduate Research Conference at which 550+ students make presentations. Fourteen percent of students also pursue a study abroad experience at one of 300+ destinations in 60 countries.
Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduating, 94% of Class of 2023 grads had positive outcomes. 71% found employment; the companies/organizations that hired the greatest number of grads included Northrop Grumman, Deloitte, Capital One, and Montgomery County Public Schools. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft employ more than 900 alumni each.聽 The salary range for 2023 grads was between $60k and $86k. 21% of the Class of 2023 headed directly to graduate and professional school.
- Enrollment: 30,608
- Cost of Attendance: $30,885 (In-State); $59,686 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: 1460
- Median ACT: 33
- Acceptance Rate: 45%
- Retention Rate: 96%
- Graduation Rate: 88%
University of California, Berkeley
- Berkeley, CA
Academic Highlights: More than 150 undergraduate majors and minors are available across six schools. Undergrads will encounter a mix of large lectures (20% of sections contain more than 50 students) and tiny, single-digit enrollments in seminar-style courses (21% of sections contain nine or fewer students). Plenty of undergraduate research opportunities exist, with many facilitated by the Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholarships; 48% of students participate in research during their time at Berkeley. Over 200 study abroad opportunities are available for those who desire them, and approximately 1,800 undergrads take advantage each year.
Professional Outcomes: Upon graduating, 53% of Cal鈥檚 Class of 2023 had already secured employment, and 17% were headed to graduate school. The median starting salary was $94,000 across all majors. Thousands of alumni can be found in the offices of Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, and 500+ Golden Bears are currently employed by NVIDIA and LinkedIn. The school is the number one all-time producer of Peace Corps volunteers. For those continuing their education, most chose to stay at UC Berkeley, with Stanford, the University of Southern California, Columbia, and Harvard rounding out the top five grad school destinations.
- Enrollment: 33,078
- Cost of Attendance: $45,053 (In-State); $75,830 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: Test Blind
- Median ACT: Test Blind
- Acceptance Rate: 12%
- Retention Rate: 97%
- Graduation Rate: 93%
Washington University in St. Louis
- St. Louis, MO
Academic Highlights: WashU admits students into four schools, many of which offer nationally recognized programs.The university has a 7:1 student-to-faculty ratio, and 66% of classes have fewer than 20 students; over one-quarter have single-digit enrollments. The Office of Undergraduate Research helps students land opportunities to research alongside faculty, primarily in the summers. A solid 60% of undergraduates report participating in a research endeavor and one-third study abroad.
Professional Outcomes: The Class of 2023 sent 65% of grads into the workforce and 23% into graduate and professional schools. Companies employing the highest number of WashU grads feature sought-after employers such as Boeing, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Mastercard, Capital One, and Bayer. Of the employed members of the Class of 2023 who reported their starting salaries, the median salary was $85k. The universities welcoming the largest number of Bears included the prestigious institutions of Columbia, Carnegie Mellon, UPenn, University of Michigan, Vanderbilt, and Yale.
- Enrollment: 8,267
- Cost of Attendance: $88,488
- Median SAT: 1540
- Median ACT: 34
- Acceptance Rate: 12%
- Retention Rate: 96%
- Graduation Rate: 94%
George Washington University
- Washington, D.C.
Academic Highlights: The school鈥檚 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio translates to a mix of small, medium, and large undergraduate sections. Seven percent of courses have single-digit enrollments, 11% have over 50 students, and the majority fall in the 10 to 29 range. In recent years, the university has invested in increasing the number of undergraduate research experiences available to its students through the GW Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. The efforts are paying off as 400 undergrads now present at the GW Research Days, a two-day event held in April. Close to half of Revolutionaries study abroad for one semester in Europe (65%), Asia (10%), Latin America (8%), Africa (7%), or Australia (6%).
Professional Outcomes: Within six months of leaving GW, 93% of the Class of 2023 had found their way to gainful employment or graduate school while 6% were still job hunting. Of the 64% of grads already in the workplace, 64% were in a for-profit industry, 26% had entered a nonprofit position, and 10% were working in government. A healthy 26% of those earning their diplomas in 2023 immediately turned their attention to earning an advanced degree. Fifty-three percent of grads earned a starting salary in excess of $60k, while an additional 30% earned between $40k and $60k Just under three-quarters of recent grads remained in the Mid-Atlantic region with the West and Mountain regions a distant second.
- Enrollment: 11,387
- Cost of Attendance: $84,315
- Median SAT: 1430
- Median ACT: 32
- Acceptance Rate: 44%
- Retention Rate: 92%
- Graduation Rate: 85%
Boston College
- Chestnut Hill, MA
Academic Highlights: The college offers roughly 60 majors across four schools that award undergraduate degrees. Approximately half of the college鈥檚 sections contain nineteen or fewer students. In their own self-assessment, 95% of graduates reported learning how to think critically at BC, and 93% said they learned how to write clearly and effectively. Fifty percent of BC grads pursued a semester abroad in one of 170+ locations around the globe, and 90% cited the experience as a source of personal growth.
Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduation, 94% of the Class of 2023 had landed at their next destination, whether that was employment, graduate school, a fellowship, or a volunteer position. The median starting salary for a 2023 BC grad was $71,000. By a wide margin, the locale where the most alumni settle is the university鈥檚 home state of Massachusetts; New York City also draws a sizable number of BC grads. Seventeen percent of the Class of 2023 entered graduate schools including Brown, Columbia, Georgetown, and the University of Chicago.
- Enrollment: 10,083
- Cost of Attendance: $89,605
- Average SAT: 1490
- Average ACT: 34
- Acceptance Rate: 16%
- Retention Rate: 95%
- Graduation Rate: 91%
University of Georgia
- Athens, GA
Academic Highlights: UGA boasts seventeen distinct colleges and schools that offer 125+ majors. 49% of sections enroll fewer than 20 students compared with 12% of sections that enroll 50 or more. No matter your major, UGA encourages you to conduct research with a member of the school鈥檚 faculty. The Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) awards grants to 500 students per year, and in 2024, a robust 620+ students presented at the CURO Symposium. Meanwhile, the Office of Global Engagement helps 3,000 students annually find which of the 100+ study abroad programs (many of which are led by UGA faculty) is right for them
Professional Outcomes: 95% of the Class of 2023 was employed or continuing their education six months after graduation. Popular employers include Accenture, the CDC, Deloitte, KPMG, Lockheed Martin, PwC, and Bank of America. Salaries vary between colleges; however, the median hovers around 60k. In 2023, 23% of graduates enrolled directly into a graduate/professional degree program, with the most commonly attended schools including Duke, Emory, Georgetown, UNC Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt.
- Enrollment: 31,514
- Cost of Attendance: $28,106 (In-State); $47,146 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: 1270
- Median ACT: 29
- Acceptance Rate: 37%
- Retention Rate: 95%
- Graduation Rate: 87%
Tufts University
- Medford, MA
Academic Highlights: Classes are small, especially when considering the school鈥檚 legitimate research university status. Seventeen percent of all courses see fewer than ten students enrolled, and 63% have sub-twenty enrollments. The student-to-faculty ratio is 10:1. Across all colleges, 60% of students participate in a research project at some point during their collegiate experience. . A substantial segment of the student body, 40-45%, study abroad, either at Tufts鈥 campus in Talloires, one of nine Tufts-sponsored programs in locales such as Chile, Ghana, Hong Kong, and Madrid, or one of eighty pre-approved programs around the globe.
Professional Outcomes: Six months after earning their diplomas, 96% of 2023 graduates were employed or attending graduate school. Prolific employers of Tufts alums include Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Morgan Stanley, and McKinsey & Company. Of the 20% of 2023 grads who went directly to graduate school, 82% were accepted into their first-choice institution. Most Tufts alumni remain in the Boston area, but many also head to New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, DC, and Chicago.
- Enrollment: 6,877
- Cost of Attendance: $88,300
- Median SAT: 1510
- Median ACT: 34
- Acceptance Rate: 10%
- Retention Rate: 96%
- Graduation Rate: 93%
American University
- Washington, D.C.
Academic Highlights: All undergrads are exposed to a recently adopted core curriculum that focuses on enhancing students鈥 metacognitive abilities. Requirements include more than thirty credits of study in courses such as Complex Problems, Quantitative Literacy, Ethical Reasoning, Creative-Aesthetic Inquiry, and Written Communication Undergraduate research opportunities are taken advantage of by nearly half of all AU students.
Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduation, 91% of AU grads have found employment, are enrolled in grad school, or both. Employers include the U.S. House of Representatives, City Teaching Alliance, the U.S. Department of State, and the District of Columbia Public Schools, with graduates earning an average salary of $65,909 within six months. Many of the most popular grad school destinations are only a Metro stop away. George Washington, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and American itself head the list.
- Enrollment: 7,817
- Cost of Attendance: $76,175
- Median SAT: 1380
- Median ACT: 31
- Acceptance Rate: 47%
- Retention Rate: 86%
- Graduation Rate: 78%
University of Michigan
- Ann Arbor, MI
Academic Highlights: There are 280+ undergraduate degree programs across fourteen schools and colleges. Michigan sports a 15:1 student-to-faculty ratio, and 18% of classes contain 50 or more students, but a solid 53% of classes offer a more intimate experience with fewer than 20 students. The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program draws in 1,300 participants each year who partner with 800+ research mentors. For students in all academic programs at Michigan, study abroad opportunities are taken advantage of at high rates. In fact, the university is second in the nation in the number of students it sends to study in foreign lands.
Professional Outcomes: Within three months of graduating, 89% of LSA grads are employed full-time or in graduate school. The median salary across all majors is approximately 70k. Top employers include PwC, EY, JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, Citi, Bank of America, and Capital One.聽 Within six months, 93% of engineering grads are employed (average salary of $99k) or in grad school. General Motors, Ford, Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft employ the greatest number of alumni.
- Enrollment: 33,730
- Cost of Attendance: $34,782 (In-State); $75,626 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: 1470
- Median ACT: 33
- Acceptance Rate: 18%
- Retention Rate: 98%
- Graduation Rate: 93%
The University of Texas at Austin
- Austin, TX
Academic Highlights: UT Austin offers over 170 majors. Sn encouraging 36% of course sections enroll nineteen or fewer students. Opportunities for undergraduate research vary by school, and many student must compete for slots in programs such as Summer聽Research Scholars or use the Eureka database to find individual professors offering research assistantships. A robust study abroad program boasts 400 offerings in 100+ foreign countries; 4,600+ students participate each year, the third-largest number in the country.
Professional Outcomes:聽 Over 1000 alumni work in the offices of Dell, Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Deloitte; IBM, Meta, Oracle, and AMD employ over 500 each. Graduates early in their careers earn a median salary of $77,400, with median mid-career pay reaching $141,100. Roughly one-quarter of University of Texas at Austin undergraduates go on to pursue advanced degrees after completing their bachelor鈥檚. Many pursue advanced study at UT Austin itself, which offers more than one hundred graduate programs. Many alumni stay in Texas after graduation, settling in Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth.
- Enrollment: 42,444
- Cost of Attendance: $31,572 (In-State); $62,672 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: 1370
- Median ACT: 31
- Acceptance Rate: 29%
- Retention Rate: 96%
- Graduation Rate: 88%
Binghamton University
- Binghamton, NY
Academic Highlights: The student-to-faculty ratio is on the high side at 18:1, but class sizes are reasonably small with 48% of sections containing fewer than twenty students. Research opportunities abound, with the Freshman Research Immersion program being one shining example. This program welcomes students to college with a year-long authentic research experience in the sciences and engineering.
Professional Outcomes: The Class of 2023 saw 84% of job-seeking graduates land their first professional job and 92% of grad school applicants accepted within six months of commencement. The average starting salary procured was $76,523, well above the national average for college grads. Graduates were successful in finding employment at firms like Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Citi. Binghamton grads pursued further education at institutions including American University, Boston University, Columbia University, and Johns Hopkins University.
- Enrollment: 14,409
- Cost of Attendance: $30,657 (in-state); $49,747 (out-of-state)
- Median SAT: 1410
- Median ACT: 32
- Acceptance Rate: 38%
- Retention Rate: 88%
- Graduation Rate: 84%
University of Southern California
- Los Angeles, CA
Academic Highlights: Aided by a favorable 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio, the school does an excellent job facilitating undergraduate research opportunities. Each school/college has a course entitled Directed Research 490 in which students work closely with a faculty supervisor and earn between two and eight credits, countless other opportunities exist to get one鈥檚 hands dirty in academic research. Each department has its own slate of study abroad offerings and Maymester programs, which are short-term intensive courses held stateside and abroad.
Professional Outcomes: 93% of undergrads experience positive postgraduation outcomes within six months of earning their degree. The median salary across all majors is an astounding $85k. Presently, between 500 and 2,500 alumni are employed at each of Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, NVIDIA, and Oracle. Graduate/professional schools enrolling the greatest number of 2023 USC grads include Columbia, UCLA, Pepperdine, and Harvard, with most remaining at USC for their advanced studies.
- Enrollment: 21,023
- Cost of Attendance: $90,453
- Median SAT: 1510
- Median ACT: 33
- Acceptance Rate: 10%
- Retention Rate: 97%
- Graduation Rate: 92%
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Chapel Hill, NC
Academic Highlights: Undergraduates can choose from 74 bachelor鈥檚 degree programs across several schools and colleges. 87% of classes have fewer than 50 students, while聽39% of classes have a student enrollment under 20. UNC sends forty percent of graduates abroad to one of 70 countries at some point in their educational career. Research is required as part of the general education curriculum, and plenty of faculty-mentored opportunities and funded formal programs are also available. In 2024, over 600 students shared their research at the annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research.
Professional Outcomes: Six months after leaving Chapel Hill, 94% of 2023 grads had entered employment, military service, or graduate school. Among the for-profit companies that hire the most graduates are Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Amazon, Fidelity Investments, and Epic Games. In the nonprofit sector, a large number of alumni are employed by AmeriCorps, NIH, Teach for America, and the Peace Corps. The average starting salary is $74,292. Nine percent of 2023 grads enrolled directly in graduate/professional school.
- Enrollment: 20,681
- Cost of Attendance: $26,109 (In-State); $56,450 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: 1470
- Median ACT: 32
- Acceptance Rate: 19%
- Retention Rate: 97%
- Graduation Rate: 92%
University of Arizona
- Tucson, AZ
Academic Highlights: UArizona undergrads can choose from over 150 majors. A 19:1 student-to-faculty ratio leads to a mix of smaller and larger course sections with 32% of classes having an enrollment of under 20 and 16% possessing 50 or more students. Through the Undergraduate Research & Inquiry Collaborative, students can access dozens of research-related resources and opportunities. Over ninety opportunities to study abroad during the year or in the summer are available, including 14 Arizona Abroad program at locations as varied as Madrid, Tokyo, and Bangkok.
Professional Outcomes: In recent years, some of the top employers hiring Arizona grads have been Raytheon, Banner Health, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Northrop Grumman, Deloitte, and ADP. An astonishing 92% of employers rate Wildcats as coming to their first job with the skills needed to succeed; One in three students stay in Tuscon post-graduation, with Phoenix and Los Angeles also proving popular with Wildcat alumni.
- Enrollment: 41,899
- Cost of Attendance: $33,126 (In-State); $60,595 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: 1280
- Median ACT: 26
- Acceptance Rate: 86%
- Retention Rate: 88%
- Graduation Rate: 66%
University of Washington 鈥 Seattle
- Seattle, WA
Academic Highlights: 180+ undergraduate majors are offered across twelve colleges/schools. Twenty-six percent of sections contain 50 or more students compared to 29% of sections that contain fewer than 20. Still, there are opportunities for personal connections with professors as evidenced by the fact that 80% of graduates complete research during their four years at UW. The study abroad rate of participation has climbed steadily since the turn of the millennium; 3,000 students each year spend a semester in a foreign locale.
Professional Outcomes: Within months of graduation, 62% of Class of 2023 grads were employed and 24% were continuing their education. The most popular employers of the Class of 2023 included Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Seattle Children’s, and Deloitte. Across all living alumni, 6,000+ work for Microsoft, and 4000+ work for each of Boeing and Amazon. Of those headed to graduate/professional school, most remain at UW itself. Large numbers of 2023 grads also headed to Columbia, UPenn, USC, and Johns Hopkins.
- Enrollment: 39,515
- Cost of Attendance: $34,552 (In-State); $63,906 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: 1410
- Median ACT: 32
- Acceptance Rate: 43%
- Retention Rate: 95%
- Graduation Rate: 84%
Boston University
- Boston, MA
Academic Highlights: In total, the university offers more than 300 programs of study, 100+ of which are distinct undergraduate degrees spread across 12 schools/colleges. Many classes at BU are reasonably small鈥59% contain fewer than twenty students; only 20% contain more than forty. The student-to-faculty ratio is 10:1. The Research Opportunities Program (UROP) funds 650 students per year, and many additional students participate in BU鈥檚 research for credit, volunteer, work-study, and other independent opportunities.
Professional Outcomes: Six months after graduation, 94% of recent BU grads have found their way into the world of employment or full-time graduate study. Across all graduating years, companies employing more than 350 BU alums include Google, Oracle, Accenture, IBM, and Amazon Web Services. Of the one-third of grads who move directly into graduate school, many are welcomed onto the campuses of elite graduate programs, such as those at MIT, Carnegie Mellon, John Hopkins, and Columbia.
- Enrollment: 18,656
- Cost of Attendance: $86,363
- Median SAT: 1470
- Median ACT: 33
- Acceptance Rate: 11%
- Retention Rate: 95%
- Graduation Rate: 90%
University of Connecticut
- Storrs, CT
Academic Highlights: UConn is home to fourteen schools and colleges as well as 115+ undergraduate majors. Overall, the school does a nice job creating a balance of classroom experiences with 51% of sections enrolling fewer than 20 students and only 18% containing more than fifty. To help forge even deeper connections with faculty, the Office of Undergraduate Research encourages students to schedule advising sessions to apply for both internal and external research posts. Hundreds of study abroad options are on the table, and the university has taken steps to increase the rate of participation, which currently sits around 18%.
Professional Outcomes: 91% of the Class of 2023 experienced a positive outcome (job, grad school, military, volunteer position) within six months of earning their degrees. Among the 58% who found employment, the largest numbers landed at Travelers, Hartford Healthcare, The Hartford, General Dynamics, PwC, and Lockheed Martin; the median starting salary was $60,000. Massive numbers of alumni are employed by Pfizer, CVS Health, Deloitte, and Amazon. 33% of 2023 graduates immediately entered a graduate or professional program, with many choosing to stay at UConn.
- Enrollment: 19,388
- Cost of Attendance: $39,682 (In-State); $62,350 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: 1330
- Median ACT: 31
- Acceptance Rate: 54%
- Retention Rate: 91%
- Graduation Rate: 84%
Pennsylvania State University 鈥 University Park
- State College, PA
Academic Highlights: Penn State offers 275 majors and a number of top-ranked programs in a host of disciplines. Unlike some public research universities that can have student-to-faculty ratios greater than 20:1, PSU boasts a solid 15:1 ratio. That level of support allows 61% of classes to have an enrollment below thirty students.聽 Even at such a large institution, it is possible to get involved in undergraduate research. Eberly College of Science professors are running upwards of 3,000 research projects per year, and the school has a well-maintained and up-to-date database of undergraduate research positions. All told, 16% of graduates report having engaged in undergraduate research. 22% of a recent graduating class availed themselves of study abroad opportunities in one of 300+ programs in 50+ countries each year.
Professional Outcomes: By graduation, 79% of Nittany Lions have found their next employment or graduate school home. Over a hundred alumni work at Tesla; Deloitte, Amazon, Google, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and Accenture each employ over 500 alumni. Three-quarters of recent graduates employed full-time earned starting salaries of greater than $50k. Penn State graduates mostly settle in the Greater Philadelphia area, with New York City and the Washington DC-Baltimore area also proving popular with alumni.
- Enrollment: 42,223
- Cost of Attendance: $39,892 (In-State); $59,846 (Out-of-State)
- Median SAT: 1310
- Median ACT: 29
- Acceptance Rate: 54%
- Retention Rate: 92%
- Graduation Rate: 86%
George Mason University
- Fairfax, VA
Academic Highlights: Mason aims to make every one of its graduates an 鈥渆ngaged citizen and well-rounded scholar who is prepared to act.鈥 Toward that goal, it requires a journey through the 鈥淢ason Core,鈥 a forty-three-credit collection of foundation, exploration, and integration requirements. Thirty-two percent of sections enroll nineteen or fewer students, 14% have fifty or more students, and the remaining sections lie in between. More intimate educational experiences can be sought in the form of undergraduate research, which roughly half of all students ultimately engage in some form. There are plenty of summer research opportunities, but you can also take courses designated as Discovery of Scholarship, Scholarly Inquiry, or Research & Scholarship Intensive that offer built-in supervised research.
Professional Outcomes: Six months after receiving their degrees, 87% of the class of 2023 had accepted a job offer or started work in a graduate program. GMU grads flow into major consulting firms like Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, and Accenture, as well as Capital One, Goldman Sachs, General Dynamics, IBM, and Microsoft. Mason graduates earn a median salary of $74,000, with 83% of grads employed in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC.
- Enrollment: 27,666
- Cost of Attendance: $33,748 (In-State); $59,330 (Out-of-state)
- Median SAT: 1240
- Median ACT: 28
- Acceptance Rate: 89%
- Retention Rate: 87%
- Graduation Rate: 69%
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