The Best College In Every State

Want a great college without automatically going halfway across the country?

Here’s my pick for the best college in every state, why it wins, and, in states without a truly high-end option, the stronger school nearby that I’d seriously consider instead.

Alabama: Auburn University

Why: The strongest combination of academics, engineering, business, school spirit, and a genuinely great traditional college experience in Alabama.

Alaska: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Why: Alaska doesn’t have a nationally elite university, but UAF is genuinely distinctive for Arctic research, environmental science, engineering, and geosciences.

Better regional option: University of Washington. Alaska is geographically isolated, but if you’re willing to leave the state, UW gives you a massive jump in academic breadth and research.

Arizona: Arizona State University

Why: Enormous resources, strong business and engineering, tons of research, and Barrett Honors College gives top students a more intimate experience inside a gigantic university.

Arkansas: Hendrix College

Why: Arkansas’s strongest small-college experience for students who want serious liberal arts, close faculty relationships, and an intellectually engaged campus.

Better regional option: Washington University in St. Louis. If you’re willing to leave Arkansas, WashU is the obvious major academic jump without going halfway across the country.

California: Stanford University

Why: There is almost nothing Stanford is bad at. Elite academics, Silicon Valley access, absurd resources, major athletics, entrepreneurship, and one of the strongest brands in higher education. Honorable mentions go to Pomona, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Harvey Mudd

Colorado: University of Colorado Boulder

Why: Excellent aerospace, engineering, environmental science, research, and arguably the best combination of serious academics and outdoor lifestyle in Colorado.

Connecticut: Yale University

Why: One of the best undergraduate institutions on Earth, particularly for students who want elite academics without sacrificing arts, humanities, community, and campus life.

Delaware: University of Delaware

Why: Delaware’s flagship is legitimately strong, particularly in chemical engineering, business, science, and research.

Better nearby option: University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia is practically next door, and if you have the profile for Penn, this is an enormous academic jump without actually going far from home.

Florida: University of Florida

Why: The best overall combination of academic strength, affordability for residents, research, athletics, and national reputation in Florida.

Georgia: Georgia Institute of Technology

Why: If you want engineering, computer science, technology, or anything quantitative, Georgia Tech is one of the strongest public universities in America.  honorable mention goes to Emory.

Hawaii: University of Hawaii at Manoa

Why: Hawaii’s clear flagship, with especially distinctive strengths in marine biology, oceanography, environmental science, astronomy, and Asia-Pacific studies.

Better West Coast option: UCLA. There isn’t a genuinely “nearby” elite university when you live in Hawaii, but if you’re willing to cross the Pacific, UCLA gives you a major jump in academic breadth and national reputation.

Idaho: University of Idaho

Why: Idaho’s strongest traditional university, particularly for engineering, agriculture, natural resources, and forestry.

Better regional option: University of Washington. If you’re a very strong Idaho student willing to head west, UW gives you a dramatically stronger research university, particularly for computer science, engineering, medicine, science, and business.

Illinois: University of Chicago

Why: One of the most intellectually intense undergraduate educations in America. UChicago is built for students who genuinely enjoy reading, arguing, writing, and thinking.  A strong honorable mention goes to Northwestern University

Indiana: University of Notre Dame

Why: Elite academics plus unusually strong community, alumni loyalty, athletics, tradition, and Catholic identity.  Another honorable mention goes to Purdue.

Iowa: Grinnell College

Why: Tiny classes, serious intellectualism, excellent financial aid, and enormous resources for a college its size.

Kansas: University of Kansas

Why: Kansas has a strong flagship, particularly in journalism, health sciences, research, and its honors program.

Better regional option: Washington University in St. Louis. If the goal is a major jump in selectivity and academic reputation while staying in the broader region, WashU is the one.

Kentucky: University of Kentucky

Why: Kentucky’s flagship is strong in healthcare, agriculture, engineering, and research.

Better regional option: Vanderbilt University. Nashville is close enough that for an academically elite Kentucky student, Vanderbilt absolutely belongs in the conversation.

Louisiana: Tulane University

Why: Louisiana’s strongest national university, with excellent public health, business, political science, architecture, and unparalleled access to New Orleans.

Maine: Bowdoin College

Why: An elite liberal arts college with extraordinary undergraduate teaching, a gorgeous coastal setting, and a strong culture of intellectual and civic engagement.

Maryland: Johns Hopkins University

Why: World-class science, medicine, public health, engineering, and research. For a student who already loves serious academic inquiry, Hopkins is hard to beat.

Massachusetts: Harvard University

Why: Ridiculous resources, extraordinary faculty, global name recognition, and strength across essentially every academic field. Massachusetts has an embarrassment of riches, but Harvard still takes the top spot. However, honorable mentions go to MIT, Williams College, and Amherst College.

Michigan: University of Michigan

Why: One of the few universities that is legitimately elite in almost everything: engineering, business, humanities, sciences, arts, research, and athletics.

Minnesota: Carleton College

Why: One of the strongest liberal arts colleges in the Midwest, especially for quirky, highly intellectual students who actually like learning.

Mississippi: University of Mississippi

Why: Ole Miss gives you the strongest traditional college experience in Mississippi, with particular strengths in journalism, business, public policy, and Southern campus culture.

Better regional option: Vanderbilt University. For a Mississippi student looking for a genuinely elite Southern university without leaving the region, Vanderbilt is the obvious upgrade.

Missouri: Washington University in St. Louis

Why: Elite academics, excellent pre-med and science programs, strong undergraduate support, and the resources of a major research institution without an enormous student body.

Montana: Montana State University

Why: Montana State is the strongest broad academic option in the state, particularly for engineering, science, agriculture, and environmental fields.

Better regional option: University of Washington. There simply isn’t an elite university sitting right over the Montana border. If a top Montana student is willing to go farther west, UW is the regional school strong enough to justify leaving.

Nebraska: Creighton University

Why: Creighton gives students smaller classes, serious undergraduate attention, excellent pre-med and health sciences, business, and a much more intimate experience than Nebraska’s huge public flagship.

Better regional option: Washington University in St. Louis. If you have the academic profile to make the jump from Creighton, WashU is the elite Midwestern university I’d actually put on the list.

Nevada: University of Nevada, Reno

Why: UNR is Nevada’s strongest broad academic university, with particular strengths in engineering, journalism, business, science, and research.

Better regional option: Stanford University. If a top Nevada student is willing to cross into California, forget settling for a marginal upgrade. Stanford is the reach worth considering.

New Hampshire: Dartmouth College

Why: Ivy League academics in one of the smallest, most undergraduate-focused environments in the Ivy League. It attracts students who actually like the idea of living in the woods with other extremely smart people.

New Jersey: Princeton University

Why: Possibly the best undergraduate education in America. Small classes, absurd resources, close faculty access, and an institution unusually focused on undergraduates.

New Mexico: New Mexico Tech

Why: New Mexico Tech is tiny, extremely STEM-heavy, and especially compelling for engineering, computer science, physics, mathematics, and earth science.

Better regional option: Colorado College. This is the much more interesting high-end alternative: a highly selective liberal arts college in Colorado Springs with tiny classes and a completely different caliber of undergraduate academic environment.

New York: Columbia University

Why: Ivy League academics plus New York City, with the Core Curriculum giving the undergraduate experience far more intellectual structure than people realize.

Also impossible to ignore: Cornell University. If Columbia is the urban intellectual version of elite New York, Cornell is the engineering, science, agriculture, business, and classic-campus version.

North Carolina: Duke University

Why: Elite academics without sacrificing sports, campus culture, social life, or school spirit. That combination is surprisingly hard to find.  UNC Chapel Hill is also a strong contender.

North Dakota: University of North Dakota

Why: UND has genuinely distinctive programs in aviation, medicine, aerospace, nursing, and engineering.

Better regional option: Carleton College. Carleton is one of the country’s top liberal arts colleges and gives a high-achieving North Dakota student a genuinely elite undergraduate option while remaining in the Upper Midwest.

Ohio: Case Western Reserve University

Why: Forget automatically giving this to Ohio State. Case Western is smaller, more academically concentrated, and particularly exceptional for engineering, biomedical sciences, medicine, research, and pre-med.

Oklahoma: University of Tulsa

Why: Tulsa is smaller and much more undergraduate-focused than OU, with particular strengths in engineering, energy, computer science, and business.

Better regional option: Rice University. If you’re a top Oklahoma student willing to head south, Rice is the kind of jump that actually matters: elite academics, tiny classes, extraordinary STEM, business and humanities resources, and one of the strongest undergraduate experiences in the country.

Oregon: Reed College

Why: Reed is the high-end intellectual choice in Oregon: tiny classes, serious scholarship, an unusually rigorous academic culture, and an extraordinary track record of producing future academics and Ph.D.s.

Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania

Why: Penn combines Ivy League academics with perhaps the strongest pre-professional culture in the Ivy League. Business, nursing, engineering, healthcare, and economics are enormous draws. Another contender is Swarthmore College.

Rhode Island: Brown University

Why: Brown gives unusually independent students enormous control over their education through its Open Curriculum. It is especially attractive to students who hate academic box-checking.

South Carolina: Clemson University

Why: Clemson is a very good university, particularly for engineering, business, agriculture, and students who want huge school spirit.

Better regional option: Duke University. If a South Carolina student has the academic profile for Duke, that is the major regional upgrade worth considering.

South Dakota: Augustana University

Why: Augustana is the strongest undergraduate-focused option in South Dakota: small, private, liberal-arts-oriented, and much more intimate than the state’s large public universities.

Better regional option: Carleton College. Northfield is a plausible move from eastern South Dakota, and Carleton gives an academically exceptional student a genuine top-tier liberal arts education rather than merely another Midwestern flagship.

Tennessee: Vanderbilt University

Why: Tennessee’s clear academic heavyweight. Vanderbilt combines elite academics, strong pre-med and education programs, SEC sports, and Nashville.

Texas: Rice University

Why: Rice is the best college in Texas. Period. Tiny undergraduate population, elite STEM, architecture, economics and humanities, enormous resources, residential colleges, Houston opportunities, and undergraduate access that a gigantic public university simply cannot replicate. UT Austin though is a great option.

Utah: University of Utah

Why: Strong in medicine, engineering, entrepreneurship, technology, and research, with Salt Lake City and the mountains right outside your door.

Better Western option: UCLA. If a top Utah student is willing to go farther west, UCLA gives them the elite public-university jump I’d actually care about.

Vermont: Middlebury College

Why: Elite liberal arts, especially strong languages, international studies, environmental studies, and writing, all on an absurdly beautiful Vermont campus.

Virginia: University of Virginia

Why: One of America’s strongest public universities, with excellent business, humanities, politics, economics, and a deeply entrenched campus culture.

Washington: University of Washington

Why: UW is a research powerhouse, particularly for computer science, engineering, medicine, public health, and environmental science.

Better regional option: UC Berkeley. If you’re going to leave Washington, Berkeley is the kind of academic upgrade that actually justifies doing it and it's close by.

West Virginia: West Virginia University

Why: WVU is the state’s major research university, with particular strengths in healthcare, engineering, energy, and applied sciences.

Better regional option: Carnegie Mellon University. For students in northern West Virginia, Pittsburgh is right there, and CMU gives you one of the country’s best universities for computer science, engineering, business, design, and the arts.

Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin–Madison

Why: Wisconsin is already one of the strongest public universities in America: elite research, excellent academics, huge school spirit, and a fantastic college town.

Better regional option: University of Michigan. If you want the same huge flagship experience but one notch higher in overall undergraduate prestige and breadth, Michigan is the obvious comparison.

Wyoming: University of Wyoming

Why: Wyoming itself simply doesn’t have a genuinely high-end university option. UW is useful for energy, agriculture, environmental science, and natural resources, particularly at its price point.

Better regional option: University of Colorado Boulder. For a strong Wyoming student who wants a substantially stronger research university without leaving the Mountain West, Boulder is the obvious move.
 

That's my two cents. Feel free to fight to the death in the comments!