Scholarships360.org, a platform that helps over 4 million students pay for college each year, announced their list of Top Colleges in America for 2023-2024. This newly published guide recognizes the most distinguished colleges and universities in the areas of overall excellence and affordability:

• Top Colleges (Overall)
• Top Colleges (Affordability)

Unlike other college rankings that emphasize prestige and selectivity, Scholarships360’s focus is on affordability and student outcomes. Graduation rates, graduate income, and net price were all used metrics whereas other rankings consider vanity metrics like peer reviews and graduate donations. 

Over 1,800 colleges and universities were considered for the lists and only the top 8% in each category were selected. All of the data used in selection is sourced from the Department of Education’s College Scorecard dataset.

“As college has become more expensive and student loan debt has soared, it’s become even more imperative for students to think about college as an investment,” says Will Geiger, Cofounder and CEO of Scholarships360. “Our college guide provides a tool to help students assess both cost and ROI so they can make smarter decisions about their educational future.”

“We see the process of paying for college as a problem of shopability–students have thousands of options and must sift through dozens of data points to make a good decision,” said Scholarships360 Cofounder and COO Brian Geiger.

Will also highlights a key part of the Scholarships360 mission: to bridge the information gap when it comes to shopping around for college. Unfortunately, this lack of information impacts underrepresented students the most, especially first-generation and low-income students who face the biggest financial hurdles when it comes to paying for college. 

“As a first-generation college student myself, I understand this problem personally. That’s why we’re committed to building tools and resources, like our Top Colleges guide, to level the playing field for all students.”