by our College Data Analytics TeamWith all of the options you have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its Top Indiana Colleges ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
We analyzed 41 colleges and universities across Indiana to determine which were the best in terms of overall quality. To come up with this ranking, we look at more than 20 factors that are all objective measurements. These factors include freshman retention, graduation rate, student-to-faculty ratio, and post graduate earnings, among other things.
Find out more about our ranking methodology.
We've developed a number of other tools and rankings to help you make your college decision. Start by filtering this list by location or field of study and then explore our other rankings that feature schools great for different groups of students such as veterans or returnings adults.
We've created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you're torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another!
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2025 rankings named University of Notre Dame the best school in Indiana in terms of overall quality for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
With a student-to-faculty rate of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $99,980 during the early years of their career..
Out of the 41 schools in Indiana that were part of this year’s ranking, Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #2 spot on the list.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from IU Bloomington is $63,742 during the early years of their career.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Purdue University - Main Campus. It ranked #3 on our 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana list.
With a freshman retention rate of 90%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $72,424 during the early years of their career..
A rank of #4 on our Best Colleges in Indiana list means Ivy Tech Community College is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $37,186 during the early years of their career..
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Ball State University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Indiana.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $51,833 during the early years of their career..
Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana ranking, coming in at #6.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from IWU make an average of $59,986 per year during the early years of their career.
Read full report on Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global
Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis ranked #7 on this year’s Best Colleges in Indiana list.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1% During the early years of their career, graduates from IUPUI make an average of $55,198 a year.
Read full report on Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis
Purdue University Global landed the #8 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana ranking.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Purdue University Global make an average of $36,596 a year.
Vincennes University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Colleges in Indiana list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Vincennes University go into careers with an average salary of $41,110 during the early years of their career.
Butler University did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana ranking, coming in at #10.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Butler is $77,235 during the early years of their career.
DePauw University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Colleges in Indiana list.
The 4-year grad rate at the school is 85%. That’s impressive when you compare it to the national rate of 33%. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from DePauw make an average of $70,527 per year during the early years of their career.
Indiana Wesleyan University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Indiana ranking.
The low student loan default rate of 1.0% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1% Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $59,986 during the early years of their career..
University of Southern Indiana did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana ranking, coming in at #13.
During the early years of their career, graduates from USI make an average of $47,605 a year.
Saint Mary’s College landed the #14 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana ranking.
The student-to-faculty rate of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s College make an average of $59,354 per year during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #15, University of Indianapolis did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from UIndy go into careers with an average salary of $53,610 during the early years of their career.
Wabash College landed the #16 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana ranking.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Wabash go into careers with an average salary of $69,952 during the early years of their career.
University of Saint Francis - Fort Wayne did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana ranking, coming in at #17.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $55,362 during the early years of their career..
Taylor University ranked #18 on this year’s Best Colleges in Indiana list.
With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Taylor U go into careers with an average salary of $52,198 during the early years of their career.
Marian University landed the #19 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana ranking.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $58,759 during the early years of their career..
With a ranking of #20, Calumet College of Saint Joseph did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from CCSJ is $46,945 during the early years of their career.
Valparaiso University ranked #21 on this year’s Best Colleges in Indiana list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Valpo is $63,191 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #22, Purdue University Northwest did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana list.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Purdue Northwest make an average of $48,318 a year.
Indiana State University came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Indiana ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Indiana State go into careers with an average salary of $48,387 during the early years of their career.
Hanover College came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Indiana ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Hanover make an average of $53,957 per year during the early years of their career.
Grace College and Theological Seminary did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Indiana ranking, coming in at #25.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Grace College make an average of $45,411 a year.
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.