Harvard University ranks as the top higher education institution in the United States for 2021, according to the WalletHub website.
The Cambridge, Mass.,-based institution supplanted its neighbor, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), at the top of the WalletHub list.
WalletHub's 2021 Best College & University Rankings compiles and analyzes data in an effort to determine which institutions provide the best education experience for students.
To determine the top-performing schools at the lowest possible costs to undergraduates, WalletHub compared more than 1,000 higher-education institutions in the United States across 30 key measures.
The data set is grouped into seven categories—Student Selectivity, Cost & Financing, Faculty Resources, Campus Safety, Campus Experience, Education Outcomes and Career Outcomes.
The metrics range from student-faculty ratio to graduation rate to post-attendance median salary. Analysts compile a score based on a 100-point scale for each college or university.
For 2021, Harvard, with a score of 78.6, edged out Yale University, which received a score of 78.57. MIT, which ranked first in the WalletHub 2020 list, placed third in 2021.
Here are the 10 colleges and universities ranked the highest by WalletHub:
School Location Score
1. Harvard University Cambridge MA 78.6
2. Yale University New Haven CT 78.57
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge MA 78.44
4. Princeton University Princeton NJ 78.41
5. California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA 77.65
6. Stanford University Stanford CA 77.12
7. Rice University Houston TX 76.96
8. Northwestern University Evanston IL 75.4
9. Duke University Durham NC 75.18
10. University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA 74.95
