Considering the United States was birthed from a revolution waged along the Eastern Seaboard, it makes sense that the roots of the country’s higher education system were planted there as well. Harvard University came first, founded in 1636, predating the Declaration of Independence by 140 years. The nation’s oldest institution of higher learning was followed by a slew of state and public universities throughout the 13 colonies.
The East Coast remains home to a number of private and public colleges that consistently top “best of” lists, highlighted by the prestigious Ivy League eight. Stacker combed through Niche’s 2021 Best Colleges in America list (current as of February 2021) in order to discover which 50 East Coast schools, old and new, are the cream of the crop.
Niche ranks colleges by analyzing student and alumni reviews, as well as data on academic, admissions, and student life culled from the U.S. Department of Education. Stacker filtered its list to include schools in the District of Columbia and states that border the Atlantic Ocean within 100 miles of their eastern borders: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
Click through the list to find the best schools on the East Coast, and if any of them could beat out the Ivies for the top spot.
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