#20. Cornell University
Location: Ithaca, NY
In-state tuition: $47,286
Out-of-state tuition: $47,286
Acceptance rate: 14.2 percent
Average SAT score: 2130
Undergraduate enrollment: 14,282
Cornell University is a private research university founded in 1865. Its median post-graduation salary is $61,900, and it has a low student-faculty ratio of 9:1.
#19. Vanderbilt University
Location: Nashville, TN
In-state tuition: $43,838
Out-of-state tuition: $43,838
Acceptance rate: 13.1 percent
Average SAT score: 2230
Undergraduate enrollment: 6,851
Vanderbilt University is a private research university founded in 1873. Its founder, railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, gave $1 million to endow and build the school after being convinced by Methodist Bishop Holland N. McTyeire.
#18. University of Notre Dame
Location: Notre Dame, IN
In-state tuition: $46,237
Out-of-state tuition: $46,237
Acceptance rate: 21.1 percent
Average SAT score: 2145
Undergraduate enrollment: 8,448
The University of Notre Dame is a private research university founded in 1842. Its founder was a 28-year-old French priest, Rev. Edward Sorin, who named the school "L'UniversitΓ© de Notre Dame du Lac," meaning The University of Our Lady of the Lake.
#17. Brown University
Location: Providence, RI
In-state tuition: $47,434
Out-of-state tuition: $47,434
Acceptance rate: 8.7 percent
Average SAT score: 2165
Undergraduate enrollment: 6,548
Brown University is a private research university founded in 1764. The school was the first Ivy League school to accept students from all religious affiliations, and women were first admitted to Brown in 1891.
#16. Rice University
Location: Houston, TX
In-state tuition: $40,566
Out-of-state tuition: $40,566
Acceptance rate: 15.1 percent
Average SAT score: 2190
Undergraduate enrollment: 3,926
Rice University is a private research university founded in 1912. The origin of the school is a tale fit for the big screen: Businessman William Marsh Rice, who made his fortune in real estate, bequeathed his fortune to the creation of a university bearing his name, to be built upon his death. In 1900, he was murdered by his valet in a conspiracy conjured up by Rice's lawyer, Albert T. Patrick. Patrick was convicted and sent to prison, and after the legal process ran its course, Rice University -- then known as the Rice Institute -- was given a $4.6 million endowment in 1904.
