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 District of Columbia Colleges ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
We analyzed 7 colleges and universities across District of Columbia 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 analysis found Georgetown University to be the best school for overall quality in District of Columbia in this year’s ranking.
The 4-year grad rate at the school is 90%. That’s impressive when you compare it to the national rate of 33%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown go into careers with an average salary of $103,494 during the early years of their career.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend George Washington University. It ranked #2 on our 2025 Best Colleges in District of Columbia list.
With a freshman retention rate of 90%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from GWU make an average of $90,873 per year during the early years of their career.
Out of the 7 schools in District of Columbia that were part of this year’s ranking, American University landed the #3 spot on the list.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from The American University is $77,370 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #4 on our Best Colleges in District of Columbia list means Catholic University of America is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
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% The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from CUA is $73,250 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #5 on our Best Colleges in District of Columbia list means Howard University is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
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 Howard go into careers with an average salary of $63,066 during the early years of their career.
Trinity Washington University landed the #6 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in District of Columbia ranking.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College is $53,804 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #7, University of the District of Columbia did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in District of Columbia list.
Since the school has a student-to-faculty rate of 6 to 1, those pursuing a bachelor’s degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $44,236 during the early years of their career..
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Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 7 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.