50 Best Private Grad Schools 2023

50 Best Private Grad Schools 2023

When grad students are looking for a more intimate campus experience, more personal attention from excellent professors, and more immediate access to support services, a private graduate college or university could be the perfect choice.

10 Best Private Grad Schools in the US

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Private colleges are independent, non-profit schools that receive their funding through a combination of endowment income and student tuition fees, rather than from public tax dollars. If you’re weighing the pros and cons of private vs public college, consider that private colleges are often smaller, offering more individualized experiences, including opportunities for dynamic classroom discussions, independent research, and one-on-one relationships with your instructors.

A private university will on average be much smaller than a public university, the best of which are large state schools serving 30,000 to 40,000 students, or more. Small here doesn’t mean tiny, but it does mean more intimate, with readier access to mentors and research faculty. The best private grad schools also have an abundance of resources (often through large endowments), which they can make consistently available to students.

Even the best and largest public grad schools may face budget crunches when state legislatures decide to cut costs. We’ve seen it happen at large public universities where, on account of budget cuts, teachers have to provide their own chalk and students their own exam booklets. Finally, especially for doctoral programs, both private and public grad schools will, depending on the field, offer tuition remission and a stipend, so the out of pocket cost for graduate students tends to be no different, and thus no higher, at private graduate schools.

How can you choose the best graduate school for you?

A good answer to this question looks to your personal and professional goals. Certain professions will require you to earn an advanced degree. In other cases, an advanced degree can make you eligible for leadership roles and higher pay. For instance, the best graduate schools for education can improve your earnings as a teacher, make you eligible for tenure, or help you meet the basic threshold for continued employment. On the other hand, the best graduate schools for business can simply make you a more competitive candidate for job openings and management roles.

The best graduate school for you should have a stellar reputation and employ highly influential professors across the board and especially in your area of study. Indeed, much exciting academic work these days is cross-disciplinary, and for such work to flourish it helps to be at a school that is strong across discipines. The following list is composed of only private graduate schools.

We’ve identified 715 private colleges and universities that meet our criteria. In order to be included in this list of best graduate schools, a university must be a fully accredited private non-profit institution, and must offer doctoral degrees and a broad range of advanced degrees.

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50 Best Private Grad Schools in the US 2022

  1. #1

    Harvard University

    Cambridge , MA
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $56K

    Acceptance

    4%

    Graduation

    97%

    Student body

    24K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1520/34

  2. #2

    Stanford University

    Stanford , CA
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $56K

    Acceptance

    4%

    Graduation

    96%

    Student body

    13K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1495/33

  3. Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $56K

    Acceptance

    4%

    Graduation

    96%

    Student body

    13K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1545/35

  4. #4

    Yale University

    New Haven , CT
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $60K

    Acceptance

    5%

    Graduation

    97%

    Student body

    14K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1520/34

  5. #5

    Columbia University

    New York , NY
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $64K

    Acceptance

    4%

    Graduation

    97%

    Student body

    26K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1515/34

  6. #6

    Princeton University

    Princeton , NJ
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $56K

    Acceptance

    4%

    Graduation

    98%

    Student body

    7K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1510/33

  7. #7

    University of Chicago

    Chicago , IL
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $62K

    Acceptance

    6%

    Graduation

    96%

    Student body

    13K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1535/34

  8. #8

    New York University

    New York , NY
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $57K

    Acceptance

    13%

    Graduation

    87%

    Student body

    49K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1455/32

  9. #9

    University of Pennsylvania

    Philadelphia , PA
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $62K

    Acceptance

    6%

    Graduation

    96%

    Student body

    28K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1515/34

  10. #10

    Cornell University

    Ithaca , NY
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $61K

    Acceptance

    9%

    Graduation

    94%

    Student body

    25K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1470/33

  11. #11

    Duke University

    Durham , NC
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $60K

    Acceptance

    6%

    Graduation

    96%

    Student body

    14K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1520/34

  12. #12

    Carnegie Mellon University

    Pittsburgh , PA
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $59K

    Acceptance

    14%

    Graduation

    93%

    Student body

    16K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1510/34

  13. Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $62K

    Acceptance

    13%

    Graduation

    92%

    Student body

    38K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1435/32

  14. Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $59K

    Acceptance

    4%

    Graduation

    93%

    Student body

    2K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1555/35

  15. #15

    Northwestern University

    Evanston , IL
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $61K

    Acceptance

    7%

    Graduation

    95%

    Student body

    20K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1490/34

  16. #16

    Georgetown University

    Washington , DC
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $60K

    Acceptance

    12%

    Graduation

    95%

    Student body

    14K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1465/33

  17. #17

    Johns Hopkins University

    Baltimore , MD
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $59K

    Acceptance

    8%

    Graduation

    95%

    Student body

    27K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1515/35

  18. #18

    Brown University

    Providence , RI
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $62K

    Acceptance

    6%

    Graduation

    96%

    Student body

    9K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1500/34

  19. #23

    Dartmouth College

    Hanover , NH
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $61K

    Acceptance

    6%

    Graduation

    94%

    Student body

    6K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1500/33

  20. #39

    Wesleyan University

    Middletown , CT
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $62K

    Acceptance

    19%

    Graduation

    91%

    Student body

    3K

  21. Tuition + fees

    $59K

    Acceptance

    53%

    Graduation

    84%

    Student body

    8K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1400/31

  22. #45

    Rockefeller University

    New York , NY

    Student body

    <1K

    What is Rockefeller University known for?

    Rockefeller University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

    Most Influential Alumni

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Find the Best Grad Schools Near You

The best grad schools in your state
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Find the Best Private Grad Schools in Your Area of Interest

The best private grad schools by discipline
2021 Ranking Archive
  1. Harvard University
  2. Stanford University
  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  4. Columbia University
  5. Yale University
  6. Princeton University
  7. University of Chicago
  8. New York University
  9. Cornell University
  10. University of Pennsylvania
  11. Johns Hopkins University
  12. Northwestern University
  13. Duke University
  14. University of Southern California
  15. California Institute of Technology
  16. Boston University
  17. Carnegie Mellon University
  18. Brown University
  19. George Washington University
  20. Georgetown University
  21. Tufts University
  22. Rice University
  23. Washington University in St. Louis
  24. Dartmouth College
  25. Syracuse University
  26. Brandeis University
  27. Vanderbilt University
  28. Emory University
  29. The New School
  30. University of Rochester
  31. Brigham Young University
  32. University of Notre Dame
  33. Wesleyan University
  34. American University
  35. Case Western Reserve University
  36. Howard University
  37. University of Miami
  38. Fordham University
  39. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  40. Drexel University
  41. Northeastern University
  42. Yeshiva University
  43. Boston College
  44. Tulane University
  45. The Catholic University of America
  46. Southern Methodist University
  47. Illinois Institute of Technology
  48. Pepperdine University
  49. Santa Clara University
  50. DePaul University