Connecticut Ranked Sixth For College Students In 2026

Connecticut is home to some of the most respected colleges in the country - Yale, Wesleyan, the University of Connecticut, Sacred Heart, and Quinnipiac University. Sure, we're not Boston or New York City, but a new study has just ranked the Best States for College Students in 2026, and Connecticut has made the Top 10.

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Decision time is coming for the Class of 26, and some may want to rethink continuing your education outside of New England. According to SmileHub,org's Best States for College Students Connecticut is the sixth best state for 2026, but a few of our immediate neighbors did even better.

How did SmileHub arrive at their rankings? They compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: Education Quality & Support, Social Life, and Economic Environment. Those dimensions were further evaluated using 28 relevant metrics: Graduation Rate, Student-Faculty Ratio, Retention Rate, State Funding for Higher Education, Cost of Higher Education, Students per capita, Nightlife Options, Crime Rates, Access to Public Transportation, Housing Costs, Earning Potential for Graduates, and Unemployment Rate.

SmileHub determined that Connecticut ranks 6th overall, with the highest state funding for higher education in the country. Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Rhode Island, and California were the 5 states that beat us. Rhode Island surprisingly has the most students per capita in the US, while New York had the third highest number of nightlife options per capita.

The worst states for college students in 2026? Alaska, Montana, and West Virginia were the bottom three. Also, the further North you go in New England, the worse it gets. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont were all bunched between #25-40.