by our College Data Analytics TeamThere are lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Top Rhode Island Colleges ranking is part of that endeavor.
After analyzing 9 schools in Rhode Island, we came up with our list of those that offered the highest quality education. Instead of depending on subjective information, we focus on over 20 objective factors to determine this ranking. These factors include such things as student-to-faculty ratio, average graduate earnings, and graduation rate.
See what other factors we include in our ranking methodology.
Since one ranking on its own is not enough to give you a complete understanding of your educational options, you can refine this list by location and field of study. We've also developed a number of other tools and rankings based on other factors. These other rankings highlight colleges that excel in other factors such as value or diversity as well as schools that excel in serving different groups of students such as veterans or returnings adults.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering!
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Brown University to be the best school for overall quality in Rhode Island in this year’s ranking.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 99%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Brown go into careers with an average salary of $93,487 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #2 on our Best Colleges in Rhode Island list means Bryant University is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
Bachelor’s degree students at the school tend to finish their degree on-time. The 4-year graduation rate is 79%, which is impressive compared to the national rate of 33%. During the early years of their career, graduates from Bryant make an average of $90,008 a year.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Providence College. It ranked #3 on our 2025 Best Colleges in Rhode Island list.
Bachelor’s degree students at the school tend to finish their degree on-time. The 4-year graduation rate is 82%, which is impressive compared to the national rate of 33%. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Providence make an average of $87,054 per year during the early years of their career.
Out of the 9 schools in Rhode Island that were part of this year’s ranking, Johnson & Wales University - Providence landed the #4 spot on the list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from JWU Providence go into careers with an average salary of $43,418 during the early years of their career.
Out of the 9 schools in Rhode Island that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Rhode Island landed the #5 spot on the list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from URI go into careers with an average salary of $69,743 during the early years of their career.
Rhode Island College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Colleges in Rhode Island list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from RIC go into careers with an average salary of $56,318 during the early years of their career.
Roger Williams University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Colleges in Rhode Island list.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from RWU make an average of $70,266 per year during the early years of their career.
New England Institute of Technology came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Rhode Island ranking.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from New England Tech is $48,684 during the early years of their career.
Community College of Rhode Island came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Rhode Island ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from CCRI go into careers with an average salary of $42,659 during the early years of their career.
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Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 9 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.