Rankings by major · 723 schools scored

Best colleges for accounting

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for accounting. The score weighs what graduates earn four years out against the same major nationally (25%), research spending in the field (20%, NSF), how many undergraduate courses the department lists (20%), the student body's test scores (20%) and the size of the program (15%, capped so size alone can't win). 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid.

The top accounting schools: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Brigham Young University, University of Southern California.

Top 100 colleges for accounting
Rank	School	Score (0–100)	Tier	Graduates per year in the major	Share of the class	Pay vs. national, same major	Acceptance rate
1	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	100	Standout	352	3.8%	1.36×	42%
2	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	98	Standout	262	3.9%	1.30×	68%
3	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	97	Standout	160	2.6%	1.62×	10%
4	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	97	Standout	86	2.1%	1.51×	46%
5	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	96	Standout	114	1.1%	1.36×	45%
6	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	96	Standout	163	1.6%	1.41×	27%
7	Georgetown University Washington, DC	95	Standout	54	2.4%	1.90×	13%
8	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	95	Standout	68	2.4%	1.55×	11%
9	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	95	Standout	280	2.1%	1.39×	52%
10	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	94	Standout	126	1.5%	1.29×	80%
11	Binghamton University–SUNY Binghamton, NY	94	Standout	146	3.8%	1.43×	37%
12	University of Georgia Athens, GA	93	Standout	176	2%	1.25×	38%
13	Fordham University New York, NY	93	Standout	86	3.4%	1.57×	59%
14	Villanova University Villanova, PA	93	Standout	102	4.7%	1.61×	28%
15	Baylor University Waco, TX	92	Standout	160	4.1%	1.37×	52%
16	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	92	Standout	333	2.8%	1.22×	51%
17	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	92	Standout	152	2%	1.33×	55%
18	University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA	92	Standout	136	1.9%	1.35×	60%
19	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	92	Standout	140	1.4%	1.27×	20%
20	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	91	Standout	160	1.6%	1.22×	24%
21	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	91	Standout	68	3.3%	1.39×	48%
22	Arizona State University Tempe, AZ	91	Standout	238	1.6%	1.17×	88%
23	Bentley University Waltham, MA	91	Standout	206	18.5%	1.45×	58%
24	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	91	Standout	67	2%	1.37×	19%
25	Fairfield University Fairfield, CT	90	Standout	118	8.9%	1.48×	33%
26	The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA	90	Standout	244	2.3%	1.18×	61%
27	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	90	Standout	168	1.9%	1.31×	45%
28	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	90	Standout	102	1.2%	1.21×	50%
29	George Washington University Washington, DC	90	Standout	34	1%	1.57×	47%
30	University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY	89	Standout	96	1.7%	1.24×	81%
31	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	89	Standout	316	8.1%	1.35×	70%
32	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	89	Standout	136	1.7%	1.26×	86%
33	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	89	Standout	110	1.9%	1.43×	54%
34	University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville, TN	89	Standout	112	2%	1.20×	42%
35	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	88	Standout	138	1.6%	1.19×	58%
36	Auburn University Auburn, AL	88	Standout	136	2.4%	1.16×	46%
37	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	88	Standout	100	3.3%	1.70×	16%
38	Miami University–Oxford Oxford, OH	88	Standout	134	2.8%	1.37×	75%
39	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	88	Standout	106	1.9%	1.26×	87%
40	University of South Carolina Columbia, SC	88	Standout	147	2%	1.16×	60%
41	CUNY Baruch College New York, NY	87	Standout	566	15.1%	1.21×	50%
42	Rutgers University–Newark Newark, NJ	87	Standout	157	7.6%	1.19×	71%
43	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	87	Standout	14	0.4%	–	5%
44	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	87	Standout	228	3.1%	1.18×	71%
45	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	87	Standout	123	2.2%	1.24×	80%
46	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	87	Standout	144	2.3%	1.22×	87%
47	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	87	Standout	56	3.9%	1.69×	29%
48	University of Delaware Newark, DE	86	Standout	92	1.9%	1.41×	71%
49	University of San Diego San Diego, CA	86	Standout	60	3.6%	1.46×	54%
50	University at Albany–SUNY Albany, NY	86	Standout	108	3.3%	1.31×	69%
51	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	86	Standout	156	1.7%	1.29×	85%
52	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	85	Standout	38	2.1%	1.50×	45%
53	University of Richmond Richmond, VA	85	Standout	40	4.2%	1.50×	22%
54	The University of Texas–Dallas Richardson, TX	85	Standout	198	3.8%	1.11×	65%
55	North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC	85	Standout	152	2.4%	1.12×	42%
56	University of Washington Seattle, WA	85	Standout	120	1.2%	1.19×	39%
57	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	85	Standout	121	4.7%	1.37×	48%
58	Clemson University Clemson, SC	85	Standout	134	2.5%	1.13×	38%
59	The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK	85	Standout	184	3.9%	1.14×	77%
60	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	84	Standout	265	1.8%	1.07×	43%
61	Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA	84	Standout	72	6.7%	1.76×	29%
62	Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT	84	Standout	84	5.4%	1.23×	65%
63	University of Missouri Columbia, MO	84	Standout	156	2.8%	1.28×	78%
64	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	84	Standout	84	1.8%	1.32×	72%
65	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX	84	Standout	214	3%	1.21×	73%
66	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	83	Standout	38	2.3%	1.20×	35%
67	Marquette University Milwaukee, WI	83	Standout	78	3.2%	1.33×	87%
68	Creighton University Omaha, NE	83	Standout	49	3.6%	1.29×	92%
69	Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO	83	Standout	30	1.2%	–	12%
70	University of Houston Houston, TX	83	Standout	254	3.1%	1.14×	74%
71	University of South Florida Tampa, FL	83	Standout	274	2.7%	1.06×	43%
72	Elon University Elon, NC	83	Standout	44	2.5%	1.42×	66%
73	Chapman University Orange, CA	83	Standout	48	2.3%	1.37×	72%
74	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	82	Standout	96	1.9%	1.11×	59%
75	Hofstra University Hempstead, NY	82	Standout	46	3.2%	1.24×	68%
76	Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL	82	Standout	70	2.2%	1.31×	75%
77	Emory University Atlanta, GA	82	Standout	18	0.7%	–	10%
78	Saint Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA	82	Standout	76	4.7%	1.26×	89%
79	American University Washington, DC	82	Standout	16	0.8%	1.60×	62%
80	Bryant University Smithfield, RI	82	Standout	94	11.3%	1.31×	69%
81	Trinity University San Antonio, TX	81	Standout	40	5.7%	1.30×	26%
82	Pace University New York, NY	81	Standout	86	4.8%	1.35×	83%
83	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA	81	Standout	31	2.1%	1.29×	62%
84	DePaul University Chicago, IL	81	Standout	164	5.2%	1.26×	76%
85	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	81	Standout	60	2.8%	1.21×	65%
86	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA	81	Standout	114	2.3%	1.11×	73%
87	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	81	Standout	150	3.4%	1.14×	93%
88	Yeshiva University New York, NY	80	Standout	58	10.1%	1.19×	56%
89	Seattle University Seattle, WA	80	Standout	34	2.7%	1.31×	77%
90	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY	80	Standout	138	2.5%	1.15×	93%
91	Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL	80	Standout	102	3.7%	1.12×	70%
92	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC	80	Standout	19	2.4%	1.54×	83%
93	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	80	Standout	142	2.5%	1.15×	86%
94	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA	80	Standout	16	1.8%	–	63%
95	Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO	80	Standout	34	1.9%	1.22×	75%
96	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC	80	Standout	138	2.4%	1.03×	80%
97	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	79	Strong	76	4.6%	1.74×	48%
98	University of Oregon Eugene, OR	79	Strong	80	1.7%	1.15×	88%
99	University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	79	Strong	158	2.3%	1.02×	85%
100	Florida International University Miami, FL	79	Strong	210	1.6%	1.10×	55%

623 more schools are on the full accounting ranking.

How this ranking works

Updated October 18, 2026. Sources: early-career pay for graduates of each program, by field of study (College Scorecard), graduates per year in the major (IPEDS), undergraduate courses listed in each department's current catalog, and the student body's test scores. Inputs that are missing for a school are dropped and the rest reweighted; programs with fewer than five graduates a year are capped at 30. Scores are relative to the other schools covered, from 0 to 100.

To cite: prefrosh.ai, "Best colleges for accounting," updated October 18, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/accounting. For a specific student's chances at these schools, use Chance me, which reads odds from the student's own high school's admissions chart.

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Best colleges for accounting

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