Rankings by major · 390 schools scored

Best colleges for English & writing

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for English & writing. The score blends how graduates in the major do four years out against the national norm for the same major, the strength of the student body, how many undergraduate courses the department lists, and the size of the program. Small programs (under five graduates a year) are capped. 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid. Many English & writing students go on to graduate or medical school, which early-career pay undercounts, so read this one alongside the school's overall strength.

The top English & writing schools: Williams College, Georgetown University, Stanford University.

Top 100 colleges for English & writing
Rank	School	Score (0–100)	Tier	Graduates per year in the major	Share of the class	Pay vs. national, same major	Acceptance rate
1	Williams College Williamstown, MA	94	Standout	62	12.1%	1.42×	9%
2	Georgetown University Washington, DC	91	Standout	55	3.1%	1.61×	13%
2	Stanford University Stanford, CA	91	Standout	52	3.2%	1.69×	4%
4	Yale University New Haven, CT	90	Standout	61	4.3%	1.29×	5%
4	Colby College Waterville, ME	90	Standout	43	8.1%	–	7%
4	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	90	Standout	36	8.2%	–	7%
4	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	90	Standout	31	2.5%	1.26×	4%
4	Pomona College Claremont, CA	90	Standout	22	6%	–	7%
9	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	89	Standout	84	4.8%	1.61×	4%
9	Wesleyan University Middletown, CT	89	Standout	69	8.6%	–	16%
9	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	89	Standout	54	1.9%	1.28×	5%
9	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	89	Standout	43	2%	1.26×	11%
9	Davidson College Davidson, NC	89	Standout	26	5.6%	–	13%
9	Amherst College Amherst, MA	89	Standout	25	5%	1.34×	9%
15	Barnard College New York, NY	88	Standout	62	8.5%	1.26×	9%
15	Duke University Durham, NC	88	Standout	41	2.2%	–	5%
15	University of Richmond Richmond, VA	88	Standout	41	5.3%	1.44×	22%
18	Emory University Atlanta, GA	87	Standout	63	3%	1.26×	10%
18	Tufts University Medford, MA	87	Standout	42	2.8%	1.43×	11%
18	Bates College Lewiston, ME	87	Standout	35	7.4%	1.28×	13%
18	Trinity College Hartford, CT	87	Standout	31	6%	1.40×	30%
18	Carleton College Northfield, MN	87	Standout	23	4.8%	–	20%
23	Brown University Providence, RI	86	Standout	116	6.9%	1.51×	5%
23	Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY	86	Standout	37	5.7%	1.24×	19%
23	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA	86	Standout	31	5.5%	1.23×	14%
23	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	86	Standout	17	4.1%	–	7%
27	Colgate University Hamilton, NY	85	Standout	39	5.2%	1.25×	14%
27	Rice University Houston, TX	85	Standout	30	2.9%	–	8%
29	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	84	Standout	282	3.2%	1.27×	11%
29	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	84	Standout	140	1.7%	1.13×	16%
29	Smith College Northampton, MA	84	Standout	45	7.6%	1.09×	21%
29	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	84	Standout	38	2.2%	1.04×	4%
33	Columbia University New York, NY	83	Standout	120	5.4%	1.16×	5%
33	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA	83	Standout	58	7.7%	1.53×	18%
33	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	83	Standout	52	3%	1.24×	6%
33	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	83	Standout	29	4.4%	1.16×	11%
37	United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD	82	Standout	68	6.1%	–	9%
37	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	82	Standout	43	4.1%	1.20×	6%
37	Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO	82	Standout	41	2.2%	–	12%
37	Wake Forest University Winston Salem, NC	82	Standout	37	2.9%	1.60×	22%
37	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	82	Standout	35	2.4%	1.31×	8%
37	Trinity University San Antonio, TX	82	Standout	25	4.3%	–	26%
37	Reed College Portland, OR	82	Standout	18	6%	–	29%
44	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	81	Standout	243	2.6%	1.14×	9%
44	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	81	Standout	84	3.6%	1.44×	16%
44	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	81	Standout	67	3.2%	1.19×	14%
44	George Washington University Washington, DC	81	Standout	50	1.7%	1.46×	47%
44	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	81	Standout	47	2.3%	1.28×	7%
44	Whitman College Walla Walla, WA	81	Standout	28	8.3%	–	38%
44	Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA	81	Standout	24	5.4%	–	14%
51	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	80	Standout	265	3.5%	1.12×	80%
51	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	80	Standout	209	4.4%	1.14×	59%
51	University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	80	Standout	164	3.4%	1.05×	17%
51	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	80	Standout	163	1.6%	1.17×	27%
51	Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO	80	Standout	24	4.8%	–	18%
56	Fordham University New York, NY	79	Strong	111	4.8%	1.31×	59%
56	Hillsdale College Hillsdale, MI	79	Strong	41	12.9%	–	21%
56	Scripps College Claremont, CA	79	Strong	21	9.3%	–	38%
59	New York University New York, NY	78	Strong	99	1.4%	1.36×	9%
59	Kenyon College Gambier, OH	78	Strong	86	18.7%	1.09×	31%
59	Lafayette College Easton, PA	78	Strong	32	4.6%	1.09×	31%
59	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	78	Strong	30	1.6%	–	48%
59	Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr, PA	78	Strong	29	9.8%	0.78×	29%
59	Hobart and William Smith Colleges Geneva, NY	78	Strong	26	5.6%	1.29×	64%
59	University of Tulsa Tulsa, OK	78	Strong	23	3.3%	–	62%
66	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	77	Strong	150	3.4%	1.14×	17%
66	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	77	Strong	49	2.9%	1.37×	45%
66	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	77	Strong	49	1.4%	1.26×	46%
66	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	77	Strong	44	1.2%	1.34×	9%
66	Brandeis University Waltham, MA	77	Strong	41	4.8%	1.28×	40%
66	Villanova University Villanova, PA	77	Strong	36	2%	1.38×	28%
66	Grinnell College Grinnell, IA	77	Strong	34	8.5%	0.76×	15%
73	Oberlin College Oberlin, OH	76	Strong	51	7.9%	1.03×	34%
73	Hamilton College Clinton, NY	76	Strong	34	6.9%	0.88×	14%
73	Dickinson College Carlisle, PA	76	Strong	23	4.5%	1.19×	42%
73	Macalester College Saint Paul, MN	76	Strong	22	4.1%	–	29%
73	Franklin & Marshall College Lancaster, PA	76	Strong	21	3.8%	–	28%
73	Denison University Granville, OH	76	Strong	20	3.7%	–	17%
73	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	76	Strong	17	1.1%	1.47×	11%
80	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	75	Strong	51	3.2%	1.19×	34%
80	The University of the South Sewanee, TN	75	Strong	39	9.8%	1.20×	57%
80	Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA	75	Strong	38	5.9%	1.25×	40%
80	Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA	75	Strong	37	6.4%	1.01×	36%
84	University of Washington Seattle, WA	74	Strong	133	1.5%	1.13×	39%
84	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	74	Strong	97	1.8%	1.14×	54%
84	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	74	Strong	49	2.5%	1.11×	42%
84	Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA	74	Strong	35	4%	1.02×	29%
84	University of San Diego San Diego, CA	74	Strong	30	2.1%	1.41×	54%
84	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	74	Strong	25	1.9%	–	35%
90	University of Delaware Newark, DE	73	Strong	55	1.3%	1.16×	71%
90	Marquette University Milwaukee, WI	73	Strong	33	1.7%	1.29×	87%
90	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	73	Strong	33	1.4%	1.34×	48%
90	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	73	Strong	18	1.4%	1.47×	29%
90	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA	73	Strong	18	4.7%	–	74%
90	Furman University Greenville, SC	73	Strong	17	2.8%	–	43%
90	United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, CO	73	Strong	17	1.7%	–	14%
97	University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	72	Strong	184	2.9%	1.22×	38%
97	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	72	Strong	120	1.6%	1.09×	45%
97	Connecticut College New London, CT	72	Strong	20	4.7%	1.12×	37%
97	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC	72	Strong	15	1.9%	–	83%

290 more schools are on the full English & writing ranking.

How this ranking works

Updated October 13, 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 English & writing," updated October 13, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/english. 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 English & writing

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