Residential colleges tend to offer the traditional college experience—from dorms and dining halls to clubs and athletic teams. So if you’ve spent your life dreaming of attending a college like the ones you saw in the movies or on television, the best universities or colleges for you could be residential schools.

To select the best colleges and universities, we took a look at the factors that are most important to students—quality, reputation, affordability, value, and satisfaction. Then we crunched the numbers to list the best of the best!

Whether you’re looking for the best residential colleges with degrees in cutting-edge areas like big data, or the best colleges in California, we’ve got you covered! Read on to explore the top schools in the categories that are most important to you.

Best Colleges by State

There are lots of great reasons to focus on a particular state (or two, or three) when you’re checking out different colleges.

For one thing, you may qualify for lower in-state tuition if you attend a school in your home state. Or maybe you just want to stay close enough to home to bring your laundry back on the weekends!

Then again, you could be looking for adventure and planning to relocate to a completely new environment.

Whatever your reasons for exploring a specific location, we’ve got you covered—we’ve sorted through all of the data and ranked the best colleges around. Take a look at our top picks for each state!

Undergraduate Rankings

There are so many great options out there that finding the best undergrad schools can feel like an overwhelming task. That’s why we’re here to help you sort through the noise, so you can find the best undergrad schools for your needs and interests.

If you’ve already sorted through all of the best college majors and know what you want to study, check out our rankings for the best colleges for different types of degree programs.

Or if you’re more concerned about campus safety or finding a school with a great reputation for research, you can find those rankings here, too.

Graduate Program Rankings

You’ve already got your bachelor’s degree—or even your master’s—and now it’s time to take your education to the next level.

Getting your graduate degree at a residential college means that you’ll have opportunities for networking and face-to-face interaction as you pursue your degree. Whether you want to get your MBA, study creative writing or become a nurse practitioner, that time in the classroom can offer a ton of value.

Check out our rankings of graduate degree programs to find the colleges and universities that offer the best value, reputation, and student satisfaction.