Verified Federal Data · No Paid Rankings

Best Colleges in Minnesota

Top Minnesota colleges ranked by what actually matters after graduation: earnings, completion rates, and what you actually pay. Federal data. No surveys, no sponsorships.

Schools in ranking

Minnesota schools in dataset

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How We Rank Minnesota Colleges

Rankings use a composite score from verified federal data: graduate earnings (28%), graduation rate (25%), social mobility via Pell Grant share (20%), debt burden (15%), and net cost for low-income students (12%). Only 4-year non-profit schools with sufficient data qualify.

→Earnings: Median annual earnings 10 years after enrollment. Source: College Scorecard.
→Graduation rate: Full-time first-time students completing within 150% of normal time. Source: IPEDS.
→Net price: Average annual cost after all grants and scholarships. Source: IPEDS.
→Social mobility: Share of students receiving Pell Grants — a direct measure of access for low-income students. Source: IPEDS.
→Debt burden: Median federal loan debt at graduation. Source: College Scorecard.

Top 10 Colleges in Minnesota (2026)

Ranked by composite: earnings, graduation rate, social mobility, debt, affordability.

#	School	Accept	Net Price/yr	Grad Rate	Earnings (10yr)
1	Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, MN	99%	$19,181	44%	$64,705
2	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	80%	$17,139	85%	$69,020
3	Carleton College Northfield, MN	20%	$27,320	90%	$75,525
4	Concordia University-Saint Paul Saint Paul, MN	79%	$17,566	46%	$59,871
5	Augsburg University Minneapolis, MN	82%	$23,875	52%	$58,829
6	Hamline University Saint Paul, MN	88%	$21,385	60%	$61,106
7	Dunwoody College of Technology Minneapolis, MN	99%	$27,023	66%	$61,511
8	The College of Saint Scholastica Duluth, MN	93%	$23,949	71%	$65,934
9	St Catherine University Saint Paul, MN	92%	$21,563	61%	$59,282
10	Herzing University-Minneapolis St. Louis Park, MN	94%	$15,205	47%	$36,909