The Top 25, Component by Component

Score on each of the five components, 0 to 100. Darker cells are higher scores. Hover a row for the full profile.

Scores are relative to all 481 ranked programs. Earnings & ROI uses institution-level data only. Source: College Transitions 2026 Undergraduate Physics Ranking (CIP 40.08, 481 programs).

Rank	Institution	Major Emphasis	Program Scale	Academic Rating	Earnings & ROI	PhD Productivity	Score
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	98.5	97.3	87.7	100.0	99.7	95.7
2	Princeton University	90.9	89.7	94.2	99.1	98.1	95.2
3	California Institute of Technology	100.0	88.9	88.3	99.5	99.5	94.8
4	Harvard University	90.2	93.6	92.5	96.7	98.1	94.6
5	University of Chicago	95.8	96.5	92.1	92.1	99.0	94.5
6	Harvey Mudd College	99.8	84.6	85.1	99.8	96.9	92.8
7	University of Pennsylvania	85.0	96.0	89.0	99.1	92.3	92.6
8	Yale University	87.3	90.2	87.6	96.4	96.0	91.8
9	Carnegie Mellon University	84.4	89.4	87.2	99.0	94.6	91.6
10	Stanford University	81.5	88.0	84.7	99.2	94.5	90.3
11	Cornell University	72.1	94.0	84.7	97.4	97.8	90.2
12	Brown University	80.7	88.6	89.6	94.0	92.9	90.2
13	University of Notre Dame	77.8	90.7	87.2	95.5	90.7	89.3
14	Colgate University	94.0	81.1	86.8	90.9	89.8	88.6
15	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	97.3	95.2	69.1	96.9	96.8	88.4
16	University of Rochester	91.7	94.2	79.0	82.9	97.6	87.2
17	Haverford College	99.6	79.4	81.3	85.1	93.8	86.7
18	Pomona College	97.5	73.5	87.9	81.9	89.9	86.1
19	Bowdoin College	96.3	71.6	88.1	82.5	90.1	85.9
20	Rice University	73.4	66.2	86.9	93.1	93.8	85.5
21	Johns Hopkins University	72.8	76.2	84.5	92.7	91.4	85.5
22	Wellesley College	92.9	73.5	84.0	87.1	88.0	85.3
23	Swarthmore College	89.0	53.0	90.1	86.1	95.1	85.1
24	Colby College	95.6	75.6	84.2	87.8	82.0	84.9
25	Duke University	49.5	67.6	93.5	95.8	89.2	84.6