Private colleges, unlike large public institutions, can be a great option for students wanting a more intimate campus experience, more personal attention from excellent professors, and more immediate access to support services. Here is our list of the best private colleges in DC.
Public and private colleges and universities operate under different business models — one is a private company with private funding; the other is owned by the state and receives both state and federal funding to operate. If you’re weighing the pros and cons of private vs. public college, consider that many public colleges provide diverse course offerings, influential professors, and an excellent return on your investment.
Public colleges are schools that receive most of their funding from tax revenues. As a result, the cost of a four-year degree at a public university is often lower than the equivalent cost at a private college — especially for students attending a public school in their home state. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the average annual cost (tuition, fees, room and board for full-time students) at a four-year public university was slightly over $20,000. In contrast, private universities cost, on average, nearly $43,000 annually.
This list is composed entirely of private colleges and universities that offer four-year undergraduate degrees. We’ve identified 7 private universities in DC. The list below of the best private universities in the state satisfies the following conditions:
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
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Tuition + fees
$58K
Acceptance
17%
Graduation
94%
Student body
14K
Median SAT/ACT
1465/33
Georgetown University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$56K
Acceptance
43%
Graduation
85%
Student body
21K
Median SAT/ACT
1375/31
George Washington University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$49K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
74%
Student body
5K
The Catholic University of America’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$28K
Acceptance
39%
Graduation
64%
Student body
8K
Median SAT/ACT
1205/24
Howard University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$51K
Acceptance
39%
Graduation
79%
Student body
12K
Median SAT/ACT
1300/29
American University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$17K
Acceptance
63%
Graduation
44%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
915/16
Gallaudet University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$25K
Acceptance
96%
Graduation
46%
Student body
1K
Trinity Washington University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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