What are the Top Tier Colleges and Universities in the U.S.? Getting into college is arguably one of the most stressful processes a teenager experiences. If you want to go to a top-tier school or college, you often hear rankings-focused comments.

Don’t worry about attending a top tier college. Take a look at our list of “Top Tier Colleges and Universities” that describes an in-depth look to get into a top-tier university or college such as Stanford, Harvard, and Yale. Wish you luck!!

Harvard University

Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. It is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders in many disciplines who make a difference globally. Harvard University is made up of 11 principal academic units – ten faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The ten faculties oversee schools and divisions that offer courses and award academic degrees. The total 2018-2019 cost of attending Harvard College without financial aid is $46,340 for tuition and $67,580 for tuition, room, board, and fees combined.

Founded In: 1636
Tuition Approximately: $46,340
Acceptance Rate: 5.6%
Contact Information: +1 617-495-1000
Website: https://www.harvard.edu

Stanford University

Stanford is committed to making a world-class education affordable. Stanford students come from across the U.S. and the world, representing diverse experiences, backgrounds, and cultures. More than 65 departments and programs offer graduate and professional degrees at Stanford. Stanford offers valuable opportunities in continuing adult education, executive and professional programs, and special programs for K-12 students. Stanford has a need-blind admission policy for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.  Stanford tuition is free for undergraduates with family incomes under $125,000. Tuition, room, and board are free for undergraduates with family incomes below $65,000.

Founded In: 1891
Tuition Approximately: $46,320
Acceptance Rate: 5%
Contact Information: 650-723-2300
Website: https://www.stanford.edu

The University of Texas at Dallas

The University of Texas at Dallas is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees. UTD offers 141 academic programs across its eight schools including 48 baccalaureate programs, 57 master’s programs, and 31 doctoral programs. UT Dallas offers a variety of academic as 33 undergraduate, graduate certificates, and professional certificates. Academic certificates consist of semester-based, credit-bearing and graded UT Dallas courses that can be applied towards a degree program.

Founded In: 1969
Tuition Approximately: In-state $10,864 & Out-of-state $26,894
Acceptance Rate: 61.5%
Contact Information: 75080-3021 or 972 883-2111
Website: https://www.utdallas.edu

Yale University

Yale University is a large research university with a wide array of programs, departments, schools, centers, museums, and many affiliated organizations. Yale has been dedicated to expanding and sharing knowledge, inspiring innovation, and preserving cultural and scientific information for future generations. It has well over 100 departments and programs in a wide range of disciplines.

Yale encourages their students to explore the academic landscape, venturing into unfamiliar fields of knowledge and, perhaps, discovering new passions that will take them in a different direction altogether. You can earn undergraduate degrees at Yale College, masters or doctoral degrees at the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and specialized degrees at their 12 professional schools. There are also many non-degree programs that allow individuals to study or pursue research without matriculating.

Founded In: 1701
Tuition Approximately: $47,600
Acceptance Rate: 6.7%
Contact Information: 203-432-4771
Website: https://www.yale.edu

The University of Texas at Arlington

The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) is dedicated to producing the lifelong learners and critical thinkers our region and nation demand. The University is the third largest producer of college graduates in Texas and offers over 180 baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degree programs. With expert faculty and dedicated resources backing more than 180 rigorous degree programs in 9 different schools and colleges, UTA can help you achieve the future you want. UTA offers undergraduate and graduate courses at its Fort Worth campus, including the Executive MBA. UTA offers an excellent education with low tuition rates, financial aid, and scholarships that keep your costs low and your debt manageable.

Founded In: 1895
Tuition Approximately: In-state $9,208 & Out-of-state $19,104
Acceptance Rate: 66.4%
Contact Information: 817-272-2011
Website: https://www.uta.edu/uta/

Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University is an American private research university is made up of nine academic divisions plus the Applied Physics Laboratory. Their faculty and students study, teach and learn in and across more than 260 programs regularly recognized as being among the nation’s best. Johns Hopkins offers a number of degrees including BA and BS for an undergraduate student and MA, MS, and Ph.D. Because Hopkins offers both undergraduate and graduate areas of study, many disciplines have multiple degrees available. The university offers their 260 programs in the arts and music, the humanities, the social and natural sciences, engineering, international studies, education, business, and the health professions. For medical research, U.S. News & World Report ranks the School of Medicine tied for 3rd in the U.S.

Founded In: 1876
Tuition Approximately: Varies
Acceptance Rate: 14.1%
Contact Information: 410-516-8000
Website: https://www.jhu.edu

New York University

New York University is now one of the largest private universities in the United States. NYU has emerged as a worldwide institution for learning, teaching, researching, building knowledge, and inventing new ways to meet humanity’s challenges. Of the more than 3,000 colleges and universities in America, New York University is one of only 60 member institutions of the distinguished Association of American Universities. NYU has emerged as a worldwide institution for learning, teaching, researching, building knowledge, and inventing new ways to meet humanity’s challenges.

Founded In: 1831
Tuition Approximately: $47,750
Acceptance Rate: 32.1%
Contact Information: (212) 998-1212
Website: https://www.nyu.edu

Middlebury College

Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college offers 44 majors in the arts, humanities, literature, foreign languages, social sciences, and natural sciences. The College is committed to educating students in the tradition of the liberal arts, which embodies a method of discourse as well as a group of disciplines. Middlebury was listed as tied for the sixth-best liberal arts college in the U.S. in the 2018 U.S. News & World Report rankings. Founded in 1800, the college enrolls approximately 2,500 undergraduates from all 50 states and 70 countries. The college offers 40 undergraduate departments and programs. The most popular majors at Middlebury by a number of recent graduates are- economics, international studies, English and American literature, political science, psychology, and environmental studies.

Founded In: 1800
Tuition Approximately: $54,032
Acceptance Rate: 17.4%
Contact Information: 802-443-3000, Fax: 802-443-2056, admissions@middlebury.edu
Website: http://www.middlebury.edu/#story577296

Vassar College

Vassar College is a highly selective, residential, coeducational liberal arts college. Consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the country, Vassar is renowned for pioneering achievements in education, for its long history of curricular innovation, and for the beauty of its campus. Founded in 1861, Vassar College was the first degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college offers B.A. degrees in more than 50 majors and features a flexible curriculum designed to promote a breadth of studies. Vassar tied for 4th in that same publication’s High School Counselor Rankings. It also ranked Vassar 1st among top colleges (tied with Amherst College) for highest economic diversity as measured by low-income students receiving federal Pell Grants.

Founded In: 1861
Tuition Approximately: $51,250
Acceptance Rate: 25.7%
Contact Information: (845) 437-7000
Website: https://www.vassar.edu

Amherst College

Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher education in Massachusetts. Amherst students have access to 40 majors, an open curriculum, talented and accessible faculty, the Five College Consortium, and opportunities for research and internships around the world. It offers 36 fields of study (with 850 courses) in the sciences, arts, humanities, mathematics and computer sciences, social sciences, foreign languages, classics, and several interdisciplinary fields (including premedical studies) and provides an unusually open curriculum.

Founded In: 1821
Tuition Approximately: $50,562
Acceptance Rate: 14.1%
Contact Information: (413) 542-2000
Website: https://www.amherst.edu

University of California System

The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the US state of California. UC opened its doors in 1869 with just 10 faculty members and 38 students. Today, the UC system includes more than 238,000 students and more than 190,000 forte and staff, with more than 1.7 million alumni living and working around the world. It is a part of the state’s three-system public higher education plan, which also includes the California State University system and the California Community Colleges System. UC has 10 campuses, 5 medical centers, 3 national laboratories. The university offers 150 academic disciplines and 600 graduate degree programs. UC is committed to creating the most cost-efficient and effective system for California.

Founded In: March 23, 1868
Tuition Approximately: Residents $13,900 & Nonresidents $41,914
Acceptance Rate: NA
Contact Information: ucinfo@ucapplication.net
Website: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/

Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University (Texas Tech or TTU) is a public research university. The university offers degrees in more than 150 courses of study through 13 colleges and hosts 60 research centers and institutes. Texas Tech University alumni and former students have gone on to prominent careers in government, business, science, medicine, education, sports, and entertainment. By enrollment, Texas Tech is the seventh-largest university in Texas and the largest institution of higher education in the western two-thirds of the state. Texas Tech University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university offers 150 bachelors, 104 masters, and 59 doctoral degree programs.

Founded In: February 10, 1923
Tuition Approximately: In-state $8,028 & Out-of-state $17,388
Acceptance Rate: 63.1%
Contact Information: 806.742.2011, webmaster@ttu.edu
Website: https://www.ttu.edu

Note:

What exactly is a Top Tier college?

Tier 1: consists of major private research institutions like Yale, Johns Hopkins, and New York University. These colleges are those colleges which have been already established and have an elite alumni background.

Tier 2: schools are selective private liberal arts colleges like Middlebury and Vassar. These colleges are those which are not as greatly established as the Tier 1 colleges, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have brilliant people studying there.

Tier 3: are major public research universities, among them most of the University of California system. These colleges are those which have recently been opened and lack many things that tier 1 and 2 colleges have.