We've given you the best universities in the world according to Times Higher Education's (THE) World University Ranking (WUR) 2016-2017 and we've also shared with you the 50 college majors that pays the most, today we bring you the 20 smartest universities and colleges across the US.
Business Insider used test scores like SATs and ACT to determine which schools enrolled the smartest students. While test scores are not exactly the best indicators to use, it offers us a way to gauge the intelligence of the enrollees and allows us to have a glimpse of the average scores.
Schools in this year's list includes all schools that report their SAT and ACT scores to the government. The ACT scores were also converted to an SAT equivalent for his analysis.
Research Scientist Jonathan Wai of Duke University created the rankings and offers more details on the process, including its limitations.
So here are the 50 smartest colleges and universities in America:
1. California Institute of Technology (CalTech)
Average SAT Score: 1545
Location: Pasadena, California
Tuition: $45,846
Student Population: 1,001
Best Known for: being the best school for technology and engineering in the world. Also ranked second in this year's WUR list after being on the top spot for 5 years.
2. Chicago University
Average SAT Score: 1505
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Tuition: $50,997
Student Population: 5,844
Best Known for: its alumni, economist Milton Friedman and former US Attorney General John Ashcroft
3. Harvard University
Average SAT Score: 1501
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tuition: $43,280
Student Population: 6,699
Best Known for: being the richest university in the US with its endowment portfolio amounting close to $37 billion. Notable alums include former presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.
4. Harvey Mudd College
Average SAT Score: 1500 (tied with MIT)
Location: Claremont, California
Tuition: $52,383
Student Population: 815
Best Known for: being part of The Claremont Colleges that allows students to enroll and take classes in any of the schools in the system. Other Claremont schools are: Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Pomona College, Pitzer College, Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences.
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Average SAT Score: 1500 (tied with Harvey Mudd College)
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tuition: $46,400
Student Population: 4,527
Best Known for: its science and technology programs. MIT is considered as one of the best schools for STEM and ranks 5th in this year's WUR list.
6. Yale University
Average SAT Score: 1493
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Tuition: $49,480
Student Population: 5,532
Best Known for: having the second largest endowment portfolio of $25.57 billion. Yale's notable graduates include current Secretary of State John Kerry and former President George W. Bush.
7. Princeton University
Average SAT Score: 1491
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Tuition: $45,320
Student Population: 5,402
Best Known for: having all its undergraduate students write a senior thesis and its graduate programs in engineering and applied sciences and public and international affairs. Notable personalities from Princeton include First Lady Michelle Obama and President Woodrow Wilson.
8. Vanderbilt University
Average SAT Score: 1481
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Tuition: $44,496
Student Population: 6,883
Best Known for: the Vanderbilt University Medical Center which is ranked one of the best in the country and the Blair School of Music. Best-selling novelist James Patterson attended the graduate school's English program.
9. Washington University in St. Louis
Average SAT Score: 1478
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Tuition: $48,950
Student Population: 7,504
Best Known for: its business and medicine programs. The school's Barnes-Jewish Hospital ranks as one of the finest in the country. Actor Peter Sarsgaard and former FBI Director William H. Webster received their degrees from Wash U.
10. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Average SAT Score: 1475
Location: Needham, Massachusetts
Tuition: $46,800
Student Population: 370
Best Known for: being one of the hardest colleges to get into. The school offers a merit-based scholarship and the average GPA of students who gets accepted is 4.0.
11. Columbia University
Average SAT Score: 1470
Location: New York, New York
Tuition: $55,056
Student Population: 6,102
Best Known for: the Pulitzer Prize which it administers. Columbia also has strong offerings on public health, business and public and international affairs. Distinguished alumni includes President Barack Obama and Founding Father and first Supreme Court Justice John Jay.
12. Stanford University
Average SAT Score: 1465
Location: Stanford, California
Tuition: $45,729
Student Population: 6,999
Best Known for: being one of the most selective schools in the US, Stanford is known for its strong STEM programs. Actress Sigourney Weaver, golf legend Tiger Woods and former President Herbert Hoover all got their degrees from Stanford.
13. Northwestern University
Average SAT Score: 1461
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Tuition: $50,424
Student Population: 8,314
Best Known for: for its highly-ranked journalism program and graduate school programs in business and STEM. Its alumni includes Stephen Colbert, Stephen Colbert and US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
14. Rice University
Average SAT Score: 1460
Location: Houston, Texas
Tuition: $39,880
Student Population: 3,910
Best Known for: its good STEM programs. The university is als home to James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy .
15. Pomona College
Average SAT Score: 1454 (tied with Duke University)
Location: Claremont, California
Tuition: $49,005
Student Population: 1,663
Best Known for: being part of the Claremont Colleges consortium, students can also take courses at the 6 other colleges which are part of the system. Famous graduates include Bill Keller, former executive editor of the New York Times and Robert Shaw, renowned choir conductor.
16. Duke University
Average SAT Score: 1454 (tied with Pomona College)
Location: Durham, North Carolina
Tuition: $51,510
Student Population: 6,639
Best Known for: highly ranked programs in business, law and medicine. Its notable graduates include Melinda Gates and Congressman Ron Paul.
17. Williams College
Average SAT Score: 1452 (tied with UPenn)
Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Tuition: $51,490
Student Population: 2,099
Best Known for: being ranked by US News and World Report as the best liberal arts college. The college is known for its rigorous academics and uses Oxford-style tutorials.
18. University of Pennsylvania
Average SAT Score: 1452 (tied with Williams College)
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tuition: $51,464
Student Population:9,726
Best Known for: its Wharton School of Business, the university is also alma mater to real estate tycoon and presidential candidate Donald Trump and former President William Henry Harrison.
19. University of Notre Dame
Average SAT Score: 1450
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana
Tuition: $49,685
Student Population: 8,462
Best Known for: its well-regarded architecture undergraduate and graduate programs as well as it s highly-ranked business and law schools. Notable graduates include former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, football legend Joe Montana and talk show host Regis Philbin.
20. Dartmouth College
Average SAT Score: 1444
Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
Tuition: $49,998
Student Population: 4,307
Best Known for: its high research activity, Dartmouth has highly-ranked programs in medicine, business and engineering. Accomplished alumni include Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) and former Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner.
