United States Private Colleges Ranked by Highest ACT Score

Below is a list of the 708 private colleges in the United States with the highest ACT Score for incoming freshmen. California Institute of Technology leads the list with an average ACT Score of 35. Alternatively, check out the SAT version of these rankings.

The ACT is a standardized test used by colleges to evaluate applicants. It is not a guarantee of success in college, but it is a strong indicator of academic potential.

List of United States Private Colleges Ranked by Highest ACT Score
College	Average ACT Score
California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California	35
Harvey Mudd College Claremont, California	35
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland	35
Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts	35
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts	35
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	35
Claremont McKenna College Claremont, California	34
Pomona College Claremont, California	34
Wesleyan University Middletown, Connecticut	34
Yale University New Haven, Connecticut	34
University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois	34
Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois	34
University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana	34
Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine	34
Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts	34
Boston College Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	34
Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts	34
Tufts University Medford, Massachusetts	34

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: August 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.