30 best colleges on the East Coast

Jill Jaracz

30 best colleges on the East Coast

Considering that the United States was born from a revolution waged along the Eastern Seaboard, it makes sense that the roots of the country's higher education system were also planted there. Harvard University—founded in 1636—came first, predating the Declaration of Independence by 140 years.

In the following decades, more colleges opened along the East Coast, but they weren't picky about who could attend. If a student lived nearby and could afford it, they enrolled. Prestige developed in the late 1800s when Cornell University and Johns Hopkins University opened as institutions that fostered top-tier research. In response, other established universities developed their own programs to draw in top talent.

As more people went to college, th