Best Colleges In California: New U.S. News Rankings

CALIFORNIA — Stanford University is California’s highest-ranked national university on U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 best colleges list. A total of 24 California colleges were featured on the national list with the highest-ranking college — Stanford University — coming in at no. 6 and the lowest-ranking California school earning a ranking of 228.

The 2020 rankings include the overall best national universities rankings, as well as rankings for the best liberal-arts colleges, the top public schools, the best value schools and more.

Along with being featured on the national list, California colleges also placed on other lists, including the National Liberal Arts Colleges list and the Regional Universities North list.

For the 2020 rankings, U.S. News made some changes to help prospective students with their college search. A new set of rankings looks at the top performers in social mobility, evaluating which schools best serve underrepresented students. The 2020 methodology also factors in which schools support first-generation college students through graduation.

Here are the top 10 California schools that were featured on the National Universities list for social mobility rankings:

• University of California — Riverside
• University of California — Santa Cruz
• University of California — Irvine
• University of La Verne
• University of California — Merced
• University of California — Davis
• University of California — Santa Barbara
• University of California — Los Angeles
• University of California — San Diego
• California State University — Fresno

A total of 1,400 colleges are included in the 2020 rankings.The publication says that 90 percent of those reading the best-colleges list are looking for schools outside the top 10. (You can read the full methodology here)

“For more than three decades, we’ve collected and analyzed data on thousands of colleges and
universities across the country and helped put schools on the map,” Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer of U.S. News, said in a news release. “We’ve found the best institutions to be ones committed to academically and financially supporting their students through graduation. They draw in high-quality professors and set students up for postgraduate success.”

Here are the California schools that made the national university rankings:

• Stanford University, 6
• California Institute of Technology, 12
• University of California — Los Angeles, 20
• University of California — Berkeley, 22
• University of Southern California, 11
• University of California — Santa Barbara, 34
• University of California — Irvine, 36
• University of California — San Diego, 37
• University of California — Davis, 39
• Pepperdine University, 50
• Santa Clara University, 54
• Loyola Marymount University, 64
• University of California — Santa Cruz, 84
• University of California — Riverside, 91
• University of San Diego, 91
• University of San Francisco, 97
• University of California — Merced, 104
• Chapman University, 125
• University of the Pacific, 125
• University of La Verne, 132
• San Diego State University, 147
• Biola University, 185
• California State University — Fresno, 211
• Azusa Pacific University, 228

Here are the California schools that made the liberal arts colleges rankings:

• Pomona College, 5
• Claremont Mckenna College, 7
• Harvey Mudd College, 23
• Soka University of America, 27
• Scripps College, 33
• Pitzer College, 35
• Thomas Aquinas College, 35
• Occidental College, 39
• Whittier College, 105
• Westmont College, 117

Here are the California schools that made the top public schools rankings:

• University of California — Los Angeles, 1
• University of California — Berkeley, 2
• University of California — Santa Barbara, 7
• University of California — Irvine, 9
• University of California — San Diego, 10
• University of California — Davis, 11
• University of California — Santa Cruz, 34
• University of California — Riverside, 39
• University of California — Merced, 44
• San Diego State University, 68
• California State University — Fresno, 101

Overall, Princeton University once again stayed in the No.1 spot. Williams College was the top liberal-arts college and the University of California-Los Angeles was the No.1 public school.

Below are the top 5 national universities:

1. Princeton University (NJ)
2. Harvard University (MA)
3. Columbia University (NY) (tie)
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tie)
3. Yale University (CT) (tie)

Below are the top 3 liberal arts colleges:

1. Williams College (MA)
2. Amherst College (MA)
3. Swarthmore College (PA) (tie)
3. Wellesley College (MA) (tie)

Below are the top 3 public universities:

1. University of California—Los Angeles
2. University of California—Berkeley
3. University of Michigan—Ann Arbor