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Best Public Universities

US News 2026 top public universities. The 2024-2026 methodology updates significantly boosted public flagships in the overall ranking too.

Top entries are curated; the rest are auto-extended by selectivity.

#SchoolLocation Accept SAT mid-50% ACT mid-50% Undergrads Avg Class Size Type
#1 UCLA Los Angeles, California 9.4% — — 33,040 ~40 est. public View
#2 UC Berkeley Berkeley, California 11.0% — — 33,469 ~40 est. public View
#3 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 16.4% 1370-1530 31-34 33,000 ~24 est. public View
#4 UVA Charlottesville, Virginia 12.5% 1410-1520 32-35 17,901 ~33 est. public View
#5 UNC Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina 15.3% 1400-1530 28-34 19,000 ~31 est. public View
#6 Georgia Tech Atlanta, Georgia 12.7% 1370-1530 30-34 18,000 ~40 est. public View
#7 University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas 26.6% 1240-1460 27-33 42,000 ~40 est. public View
#8 University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin 45.2% 1370-1490 28-32 37,198 ~37 est. public View
#9 University of Florida Gainesville, Florida 24.2% 1320-1470 29-33 34,000 ~35 est. public View
#10 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 42.4% 1390-1510 30-34 35,420 ~44 est. public View
#11 University of Maryland College Park, Maryland 44.8% 1400-1530 32-35 31,133 ~37 est. public View
#12 William & Mary Williamsburg, Virginia 37.0% 1410-1520 33-35 6,700 ~24 est. public View
#13 University of Washington Seattle, Washington 39.1% — — 36,000 ~44 est. public View
#14 Ohio State Columbus, Ohio 60.6% 1310-1480 28-32 46,815 ~40 est. public View
#15 Penn State University Park, Pennsylvania 61.0% 1250-1410 27-32 42,619 ~37 est. public View
#16 University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 37.9% 1220-1400 26-34 31,000 ~37 est. public View
#17 Texas A&M College Station, Texas 51.7% 1160-1390 25-31 60,765 ~42 est. public View
#18 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia 55.0% 1280-1450 28-32 30,000 ~31 est. public View
#19 University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 58.1% 1280-1460 29-33 20,418 ~31 est. public View
#20 Michigan State East Lansing, Michigan 84.8% 1100-1310 24-30 52,089 ~37 est. public View
#21 Rutgers New Brunswick, New Jersey 65.0% 1270-1480 28-33 36,588 ~29 est. public View
#22 University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota 79.8% 1300-1470 26-31 39,908 ~37 est. public View
#23 Clemson Clemson, South Carolina 38.3% 1250-1400 28-32 23,401 ~33 est. public View
#24 Binghamton University Binghamton, New York 38.6% 1360-1490 31-34 14,321 ~40 est. public View
#25 Stony Brook Stony Brook, New York 49.0% 1340-1480 29-33 18,263 ~37 est. public View
#26 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, California 27.5% 1240-1440 26-32 18,679 ~40 est. public View
#27 San Diego State San Diego, California 36.0% 1140-1320 23-29 31,000 ~53 est. public View
#28 Auburn Auburn, Alabama 45.9% 1260-1380 26-29 28,953 ~40 est. public View
#29 University of Connecticut Storrs, Connecticut 52.4% 1220-1420 28-33 20,056 ~35 est. public View
#30 University of South Carolina Columbia, South Carolina 60.2% 1180-1360 25-31 27,000 ~37 est. public View
#31 University of Delaware Newark, Delaware 66.0% 1180-1370 26-31 19,000 ~33 est. public View
#32 University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, Colorado 75.9% 1180-1390 27-33 33,384 ~40 est. public View
#34 Temple Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 80.4% 1130-1358 24-31 24,000 ~31 est. public View
#35 George Mason Fairfax, Virginia 87.5% 1160-1360 25-30 27,819 ~37 est. public View
#36 Cal State Long Beach Long Beach, California 46.3% 1040-1250 20-26 33,000 ~53 est. public View
#37 San Jose State San Jose, California 84.6% 1100-1330 24-29 29,000 ~53 est. public View
#38 University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri 78.5% 1150-1330 23-30 31,000 ~40 est. public View
#39 University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska 87.5% 1098-1330 22-28 21,000 ~33 est. public View
#40 Iowa State Ames, Iowa 88.7% 1130-1350 21-28 30,380 ~40 est. public View
#41 University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 83.6% 1130-1330 21-28 22,738 ~33 est. public View
#42 University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 93.5% 1090-1280 22-29 20,000 ~37 est. public View
#43 University of New Hampshire Durham, New Hampshire 88.2% 1090-1330 26-30 11,376 ~40 est. public View
#44 University of Vermont Burlington, Vermont 65.3% 1300-1420 29-32 11,300 ~33 est. public View
#45 University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee 41.6% 1210-1370 25-32 31,000 ~40 est. public View
#46 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon 88.0% 1130-1360 22-28 18,000 ~37 est. public View
#47 University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama 76.6% 1175-1410 22-33 33,000 ~40 est. public View
#48 Florida State Tallahassee, Florida 24.2% 1290-1400 29-32 34,271 ~40 est. public View
#49 University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona 86.1% 1140-1360 21-29 40,407 ~44 est. public View
#50 Arizona State Tempe, Arizona 89.9% 1130-1360 22-28 65,450 ~42 est. public View
#51 LSU Baton Rouge, Louisiana 73.3% 1180-1310 24-30 28,286 ~66 est. public View
#52 University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah 87.0% 1100-1330 22-29 24,000 ~37 est. public View
#53 University of Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky 94.0% 1080-1290 22-29 22,000 ~40 est. public View
#54 University of Houston Houston, Texas 73.9% 1160-1320 23-29 38,673 ~46 est. public View
#55 University of Maine Orono, Maine 96.6% 1050-1280 21-30 9,000 ~33 est. public View
#56 University of Hawaii Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii 86.6% 1070-1290 17-25 13,000 ~29 est. public View
#57 United States Naval Academy Maryland 9.3% 1210-1410 25-31 4,474 ~31 est. public View
#58 United States Military Academy New York 12.4% 1200-1420 27-33 4,393 ~31 est. public View
#59 United States Air Force Academy Colorado 14.1% 1230-1440 26-33 4,114 ~31 est. public View
#60 United States Coast Guard Academy Connecticut 22.4% 1240-1400 27-32 1,108 ~31 est. public View
#61 UC San Diego California 28.6% — — 33,000 ~42 est. public View
#62 UC Irvine California 28.8% — — 30,204 ~40 est. public View
#63 UC Santa Barbara California 33.0% — — 23,181 ~37 est. public View
#64 UC Davis California 41.8% — — 32,273 ~46 est. public View
#65 NC State North Carolina 42.0% 1290-1440 25-32 28,422 ~42 est. public View
#66 Purdue West Lafayette, Indiana 49.9% 1220-1480 28-34 37,000 ~29 est. public View
#67 UMass Amherst Massachusetts 59.9% 1330-1480 29-33 24,000 ~42 est. public View
#68 Florida A&M Tallahassee, Florida 20.6% 1030-1180 20-24 7,890 ~37 est. public View
#69 University of South Florida Florida 43.2% 1140-1330 24-29 36,452 ~42 est. public View
#70 New Mexico Tech New Mexico 44.5% 1080-1310 20-29 995 ~31 est. public View
#71 University of Central Florida Florida 44.7% 1200-1350 25-29 60,083 ~42 est. public View
#72 Tennessee State Tennessee 46.0% 880-1060 16-20 7,000 ~31 est. public View
#73 CUNY Baruch College New York 47.5% 1100-1400 28-32 15,000 ~37 est. public View
#74 University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 52.2% 0-0 0-0 9,855 ~33 est. public View
#75 Florida International Florida 54.7% 1070-1260 21-27 47,000 ~42 est. public View
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