How we narrow the list

PG's database covers 3,927 US colleges. Before matching anything to your profile, we narrow that down to about 400 using filters like these — the goal is a realistic, relevant starting pool, not every school in the country.

• Four-year colleges only — schools whose highest degree offered is a bachelor's or above, not community/associate's colleges.
• Public or private nonprofit — for-profit institutions are excluded.
• More than 400 undergraduates — cuts out schools too small to have real usage data.
• Acceptance rate under 90% (for schools that report one) — schools without a real admissions process aren't included.
• More than 8,000 applications received — a proxy for being a widely-known, actively-considered school, not a niche or obscure one.
• Not primarily a Nursing/Health, Faith-Based/Theological, or Community College program — those tend to involve a different kind of decision than a general four-year admission.

From that ~400-school pool, use the filters and sort options below to build your own list.