Last Updated on 20 September 2025

The following list is a compilation of the 200 best movies of all time that were set in a school. To discover the greatest number of lists possible, I had to look at lists of “high school movies”, “college movies”, and movies about “school life.”

I found 32 different ranked lists online total, pulled them all into Excel, and merged them all to get this definitive compilation. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to all 32 lists that were averaged. Below is a checklist you can print to track which ones you’ve seen, followed by the ranked list with links to IMDb.

1. The Breakfast Club (1985)
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
3. Dead Poets Society (1989)
4. Mean Girls (2004)
5. The Social Network (2010)
6. Good Will Hunting (1997)
7. Animal House (1978)
8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
9. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
10. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
11. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
12. Clueless (1995)
13. Legally Blonde (2001)
14. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
15. Grease (1978)
16. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
17. School of Rock (2003)
18. Heathers (1988)
19. Old School (2003)
20. Rudy (1993)
21. Election (1999)
22. Whiplash (2014)
23. Carrie (1976)
24. Pitch Perfect (2012)
25. Monsters University (2013)
26. Dazed and Confused (1993)
27. Superbad (2007)
28. Lady Bird (2017)
29. Rushmore (1998)
30. Booksmart (2019)
31. Revenge of the Nerds (1984)
32. American Graffiti (1973)
33. Back to School (1986)
34. Real Genius (1985)
35. Sixteen Candles (1984)
36. Donnie Darko (2001)
37. Easy A (2010)
38. High School Musical (2006)
39. Say Anything (1989)
40. Eighth Grade (2018)
41. The House Bunny (2008)
42. The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
43. Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
44. Do Revenge (2022)
45. Van Wilder (2002)
46. 96 (2018)
47. Class of 1984 (1982)
48. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
49. The Emperor’s Club (2002)
50. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
51. She’s All That (1999)
52. The History Boys (2006)
53. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
54. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
55. Friday Night Lights (2004)
56. Good and Bad at Games (1983)
57. The Great Debaters (2007)
58. Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
59. 21 Jump Street (2012)
60. Fame (1980)
61. Drumline (2002)
62. School Ties (1992)
63. Bring It On (2000)
64. Wild Child (2008)
65. Accepted (2006)
66. College (2008)
67. Higher Learning (1995)
68. Never Let Me Go (2010)
69. The Craft (1996)
70. Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
71. The Waterboy (1998)
72. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
73. Love, Simon (2018)
74. 3 Idiots (2009)
75. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
76. Kes (1969)
77. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
78. Pretty in Pink (1986)
79. Never Been Kissed (1999)
80. All I Wanna Do! (1998)
81. House Party (1990)
82. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
83. Cracks (2009)
84. The Rules of Attraction (2002)
85. Au Revoir les Enfants (1987)
86. Wonder Boys (2000)
87. Love & Basketball (2000)
88. The Chorus (2004)
89. 22 Jump Street (2014)
90. Finding Forrester (2000)
91. The Half of It (2020)
92. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
93. To Sir, with Love (1967)
94. Gregory’s Girl (1980)
95. Back to the Future (1985)
96. Bad Teacher (2011)
97. Glory Road (2006)
98. Class (1983)
99. The Paper Chase (1973)
100. Scream (1996)
101. She’s the Man (2006)
102. Love Story (1970)
103. Risky Business (1983)
104. With Honors (1994)
105. St. Trinian’s (2007)
106. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2002)
107. Hoop Dreams (1994)
108. Only the Strong (1993)
109. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010)
110. The Graduate (1967)
111. Toy Story 3 (2010)
112. The Spectacular Now (2013)
113. Jennifer’s Body (2009)
114. Life of the Party (2018)
115. O (2001)
116. Mistress America (2015)
117. The Princess Diaries (2001)
118. Orange County (2002)
119. 17 Again (2009)
120. If…. (1968)
121. Stand and Deliver (1988)
122. Handsome Devil (2016)
123. The Sure Thing (1985)
124. Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)
125. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
126. Scent of a Woman (1992)
127. American Pie (1999)
128. The Last Picture Show (1971)
129. Footloose (1984)
130. Sydney White (2007)
131. Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
132. The Hate U Give (2018)
133. Kill Your Darlings (2013)
134. Blockers (2018)
135. 21 (2008)
136. A Single Man (2009)
137. Hairspray (1988)
138. Matilda (1996)
139. Spring Breakers (2012)
140. EuroTrip (2004)
141. Dear White People (2014)
142. Dangerous Minds (1995)
143. Road Trip (2000)
144. Carrie (2002)
145. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
146. Juno (2007)
147. An Education (2009)
148. Detention (2011)
149. Sky High (2005)
150. Spud (2010)
151. To Be and to Have (2002)
152. Can’t Hardly Wait (1998)
153. Varsity Blues (1999)
154. School Daze (1988)
155. The Program (1993)
156. Hairspray (2007)
157. Jawbreaker (1999)
158. John Tucker Must Die (2006)
159. Brick (2005)
160. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
161. Palo Alto (2013)
162. Center Stage (2000)
163. Horse Feathers (1932)
164. Scream 2 (1997)
165. X-Men (2000)
166. Raw (2016)
167. Remember the Titans (2000)
168. Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)
169. PCU (1994)
170. Dope (2015)
171. Bang Bang You’re Dead (2002)
172. Kicking and Screaming (1995)
173. Lisa Frankenstein (2024)
174. The Freshman (1925)
175. Save the Last Dance (2001)
176. Better Off Dead (1985)
177. High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)
178. Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
179. The Spanish Apartment (2002)
180. The Ron Clark Story (2006)
181. A Cinderella Story (2004)
182. Smart People (2008)
183. School’s Out Forever (2021)
184. A Coffee in Berlin (2012)
185. Battle Royale (2000)
186. Cry Wolf (2005)
187. Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020)
188. Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017)
189. Terms of Endearment (1983)
190. The School for Good and Evil (2022)
191. Tom Brown’s Schooldays (2005)
192. The DUFF (2015)
193. Ghost World (2001)
194. Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
195. Shiva Baby (2020)
196. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
197. Toy Soldiers (1991)
198. A Little Princess (1995)
199. Bring It On: Again (2004)
200. Maurice (1987)