Best YA Books Set in College
Here are the Best YA Books Set in College! I love YA Books Set The Summer Before College as well, so you can check out that list next!
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The Best YA Books Set in College
There should be MORE YA books set in college. Readers of young adult fiction are thinking about college, curious about college life, and need to be ready for the challenges of living on their own for the first time.
Here’s my list of The Best YA Books Set in College.
- Published during a ten-year span, between 2013 and 2025, these books portray so many different aspects of the college experience from mental health issues to finding friends to college drinking and more.
- There’s been a resurgence of YA Books Set in College, possibly because so many young adults missed part of their college experience due to the pandemic.
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The Rival by Emma Lord (2025)
- It’s by Emma Lord! Check out my post on the NYC World of Emma Lord
- Academic rivals trope!!
- Check out my review here!
As she starts college, Sadie FINALLY ditches her lifelong academic rival. But then her incredibly irritating neighbor Seb gets off the waitlist at her new school. Now Sadie has to compete with him all over again. But is she hiding other feelings for Seb, feelings that could be more than friendly?
Wild About You by Kaitlyn Hill (2024)
- Reality TV theme
- Grumpy/Sunshine Trope
A grumpy-sunshine teen romance that takes place on Wild Adventures, a popular outdoorsy reality show.
College freshman Natalie competes in challenges against other students with Finn, her outdoorsy teammate. Could falling in love be the wildest adventure of all….
True Love and Other Impossible Odds by Christina Li (2024)
- Grief book
- Tech themes/Young Women in STEM
Grace arrived at college hoping to start fresh after a grief-stricken senior year. When Grace comes up with an algorithm to pair students with their perfect romantic partners, she keeps trying to make things work with her match, a guy named Jamie. But Grace is really drawn to Julia, making her question everything.
Past Present Future by Rachel Solomon (2024)
- Mental health issues focus – check out all my favorite YA Books about Mental Health
In this sequel to Today Tonight Tomorrow, Rowan and Neil embark on a long-distance relationship during their first year of college. Rowan struggling to find her voice in her creative writing program, while in New York, Neil finds a new friend group and tries to handle his rapidly changing mental health.
A Bahn Mi for Two
- A f/f romance
- A study abroad theme – check out my list of YA Books Like Emily in Paris about girls abroad!
In this sweet sapphic romance about two foodies in love, Vietnamese-American Vivi is studying abroad in Vietnam when she meets Lan, a food blogger whose family owns a bánh mì stall. Together, they discuss their families’ histories while eating street food in Sài Gòn.
Unnecessary Drama by Nina Kenwood (2023)
- Enemies to lovers plot!
- Opposites attract
Responsible Brooke always follows the rules―and she plans to keep it that way during her first year of college.Her student housing only has one rule: “no unnecessary drama.” But when one of her roommates turns out to be Jesse, her high-school nemesis, Jesse isn’t so easy to ignore.
Begin Again by Emma Lord (2023)
- Okay there’s a bit of a love triangle
- But a great story about finding yourself!
Andie Rose plans to transfer from community college to the hyper competitive Blue Ridge State, but her plans go off the rails. First, her long-distance relationship with boyfriend Connor only gets more complicated when she discovers he transferred out of Blue Ridge to her community college. Then Milo, her coffee-guzzling grump of an R.A. with seafoam green eyes, is somehow disrupting all her ideas about love and relationships one sleep-deprived wisecrack at a time.
Check out my review of Begin Again!
She Gets The Girl by Rachael Lippincott (2023)
- An f/f romance
Alex Blackwood knows how to get the girl. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness.
Alex, fresh off a bad breakup, volunteers to help Molly learn how to get her dream girl to fall for her.
As the two embark on their five-step plans to get their girls to fall for them, though, they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling…for each other.
This Is Not a Personal Statement by Tracy Badua (2023)
- A caper book
- Check out my interview with YA author Tracy Badua!
At sixteen, Perla is the youngest senior in her high school, known as “Perfect Perlie.” When Perla doesn’t get into her dream school, she forges her own acceptance letter, and next thing she knows, she’s heading to college. Soon, Perla is breaking into dorm rooms, crashing classes, and dodging questions. As her guilty conscience grows and campus security looms large, Perla starts to wonder if her plan will really succeed.
And They Lived by Steven Salvatore (2023)
- M/M romance
- Animator obsessed with Disney films
College first year Chase Arthur is a budding animator obsessed with Disney films. He’s also recovering from an eating disorder. When Chase meets Jack Reid, a pragmatic poet Chase throws everything into question for Jack, who is still discovering his sexual identity, having grown up in close-knit conservative family.
Icebreaker by A. L. Graziadei (2022)
- Something different: a YA m/m hockey romance!
- For even spicier hockey romance, see my list of NA college romance
Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman and a hockey legacy.
The only person standing in his way of the top spot on the team is Jaysen Caulfield. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he really wants, and what he’s willing to risk for it.
Loveboat Reunion by Abigail Hing Wen (2022)
- The Ivy League meets a no-holds-barred reunion
- By the author of Loveboat Taipei
Sophie Ha and Xavier Yeh have what some would call a tumultuous past.
Sophie has sworn off boys and is determined to be the best student Dartmouth’s ever had. Xavier just wants to stay under his overbearing father’s radar, collect his trust fund when he turns eighteen, and concentrate on what makes him happy.
Then Sophie and Xavier find themselves on a wild, nonstop Loveboat reunion, hatching a joint plan to take control of their futures. Can they succeed together . . . or are they destined to combust?
Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman by Kristen R. Lee (2022)
- Social justice themes
Savannah Howard thought everyone followed the same checklist to get into Wooddale University: take the hardest classes, get perfect grades, and give up a social life to score a full ride to a top school. But now that she’s on campus, it’s clear there’s a different rule book. Savannah tries to keep to head down, but when the statue of the university’s first Black president is vandalized, how can she look away?
Loveless by Alice Oseman (2022)
- An aro/ace YA story
- By the author of Heartstopper
Georgia doesn’t understand why she can’t crush and kiss and make out like her friends do. She’s surrounded by the narrative that dating + sex = love. It’s not until she gets to college that she discovers the A range of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum — coming to understand herself as asexual/aromantic.
The Lies We Tell by Katie Zhao (2022)
- A YA suspense story
Anna Xu moves out of her parent’s home and into the dorms across town as she starts freshman year at the local, prestigious Brookings University. At Brookings, Anna wants to keep up her stellar academic performance and to investigate the unsolved campus murder of her childhood babysitter. She also finds a familiar face–her middle-school rival, Chris Lu. Anna and Chris team up to find out who is stalking her and take on a dangerous search into the hate crimes happening around campus.
You can read my review of The Lies We Tell here!
Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao (2021)
- A YA fauxmance story
Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents. But when Chloe starts to fall for her rent-a-date her carefully curated life begins to unravel.
Again, But Better by Christine Riccio (2021)
Shane has been doing college all wrong. Pre-med, stellar grades, and happy parents sounds ideal, but Shane has made zero friends. So Shane signs up for a semester abroad in London. She’s going to right all her college mistakes: make friends, pursue boys, and find adventure!
We Are Okay by Nina Lacour (2019)
You go through life thinking there’s so much you need, until you leave with only your phone, your wallet, and a picture of your mother. Alone in an emptied dorm for winter break, Marin waits. Mabel is coming to visit and Marin will be forced to face everything that’s been left unsaid and finally confront the loneliness that has made a home in her heart.
Frat Girl by Kiley Roache (2019)
College life can be complicated and a lot of fun. Warren University freshman Cassie Davis is up for all of it. Which leaves Cassie facing the dreaded F word… Fraternity—specifically Delta Tau Chi, a frat on the verge of being banned from the school. Accused of offensive, sexist behavior, they have one year to clean up their act. With one shot at a scholarship to the school of her dreams, Cassie pitches an unusual research project—to pledge Delta Tau Chi, take on the boys’ club and provide proof of their misogynistic behavior.
Finding Felicity by Stacey Cade (2018)
- 1990s nostalgia!
Caroline Sands has never been particularly good at making friends. So out of desperation and a desire to please her worried mother, Caroline invented a whole life for herself—using characters from Felicity, an old show she discovered online and fell in love with.
Freshmen by Tom Ellison and Lucy Iverson (2018)
Phoebe can’t wait to get to college. Luke didn’t set out to redefine himself, but as soon as he arrives on campus, he finds himself dumping his long-term long-distance girlfriend. And the changes don’t stop there. . . .Just when things start looking up (and Phoebe and Luke start hooking up), drama looms on the horizon. Rumors swirl about the Wall of Shame, a secret text chain run by Luke’s soccer team. Luke and Phoebe find themselves grappling with confusing feelings and wondering how they’ll ever make it through freshman year.
American Panda by Gloria Chao (2018)
At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents’ master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies. When Mei reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (2013)
- See my posts on Rainbow Rowell’s Slow Dance, my review of Eleanor & Park,
Cath is a Simon Snow fan. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. But now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates.
Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
Check out my Review of Fangirl!
Love this list? Here are two more to check out:
And if you are looking for books set in college that have a little more spice, check out my post on Books Like HBO’s SLOCG!
I have read seven of these. I enjoyed Chao's and Rowell's books a lot. It's great to see those YA books set in college because they cover a lot of things the new adult books tend to miss.
I agree! There should be more books in this subgenre!