Stanford University students just before the school’s commencement ceremony at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif., on Sunday, June, 13, 2021. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)
Randy Vazquez
TNS
Several California’s college and universities have snagged top spots in Time magazine’s inaugural list of America’s Best Colleges of 2026-2027.
The list of 500 schools was compiled by the magazine and data research firm Statista, Schools were given a score based on their student outcomes, learning environment and their attractiveness to students.
In the rankings, Time particularly noted students’ views on their return on investment, the amount of time and money they’ve invested in their education and what they’ll get out of it post-graduation in terms on salary. Many university students have turned the ROI factor into the pursuit of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) careers, and many of the top ranking schools were recognized for their STEM programs.
Stanford University came in first, which Time highlighted as being “known for its startup culture and connection to Silicon Valley.”
The small, private liberal arts college Harvey Mudd came in third in the rankings. It is part of Claremont Colleges and has an enrollment of some 900 students. Harvey Mudd only offers STEM majors, though the magazine notes that the school’s liberal arts background encourages engagement in humanities, social sciences and the arts.
In second place was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rounding out the top five spots, fourth and fifth place were given to Princeton University in New Jersey and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, respectively.
Other top California schools included: the California Institute of Technology, ranked sixth; Claremont McKenna College, another Claremont Colleges school which ranked ninth; and the University of California, Berkeley, in 15th place.
How were schools scored?
Time and Statista assigned schools a score out of 100 based on three pillars: student outcomes, learning environment and their attractiveness to students.
Student outcomes account for 75% of a school’s score, with a focus on assessing the value gained by students from attendance. It encapsulates graduates’ earnings, graduation rate and return on education (weighing the earnings students achieve against the cost of attending school).
The learning environment of a school accounted for 15% of the final score. It weighs the student-to-faculty ratio, expenditure per student and diversity (including measures of ethnic diversity, disability inclusion and socioeconomic backgrounds).
Attractiveness to students accounted for 10% of schools’ scores, and was determined by the difference between the school’s admission rate (how many students it gave offers of acceptance to) and its yield rate (what share of admitted students end up enrolling in the school).
To qualify, schools had to be active, financially solvent, hold Title IV federal financial aid eligibility status, be a public or private not-for-profit institution (for-profit schools were excluded) and be located in a state or Washington, D.C.
Which California schools made the top 500?
Here are the 54 California colleges on the list, in order of rank and score out of 100.
Stanford University | #1 | 96.36Harvey Mudd College | #3 | 94.39California Institute of Technology | #6 | 92.48Claremont McKenna College | #9 | 91.21UC Berkeley | #15 | 89.43Santa Clara University | #29 | 85.33University of Southern California | #32 | 85.05UC Los Angeles | #34 | 84.59UC San Diego | #35 | 84.37California Polytechnic State University — San Luis Obispo | #38 | 84.08UC Santa Barbara | #43 | 83.86University of La Verne | #70 | 81.48Pomona College | #76 | 80.87UC San Diego | #86 | 79.39UC Davis | #90 | 78.86Cal Poly Maritime Academy | #114 | 76.24UC Irvine | #118 | 75.93Pepperdine University | #130 | 74San Diego State University | #135 | 73.53Scripps College | #145 | 72.51Fresno Pacific University | #158 | 71.58Mount Saint Mary’s University | #172 | 70.55University of Redlands | #176 | 70.34California State University, Long Beach | #180 | 70.17National University | #181 | 70.15California State University, Stanislaus | #188 | 69.91Loyola Marymount University | #200 | 69.32CSU Dominguez Hills | #209 | 68.74CSU Northridge | #219 | 68.34Saint Mary’s College of California | #226 | 67.95Sonoma State University | #232 | 67.86University of San Francisco | #238 | 67.68CSU Chico | #243 | 67.35CSU Los Angeles | #249 | 67.05CSU Channel Islands | #269 | 66.23CSU San Bernardino | #280 | 65.42Occidental College | #281 | 65.38California State Polytechnic University – Pomona | #287 | 64.87UC Merced | #307 | 64.06California Lutheran University | #310 | 63.90CSU Fullerton | #321 | 63.53Azusa Pacific University | #332 | 63.12CSU Fresno | #335 | 63.02Pitzer College | #346 | 62.09CSU Bakersfield | #354 | 61.71Dominican University of California | #370 | 61.01Chapman University | #375 | 60.88CSU Monterey Bay | #386 | 60.31UC Santa Cruz | #388 | 60.26Menlo College | #395 | 59.74CSU San Marcos | #396 | 59.72CSU Sacramento | #425 | 58.57California Baptist University | #430 | 58.35Pacific Union College | #440 | 57.95
Time’s list draws on data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System collected by the National Center for Education Statistics. It also used other data from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
The full list and an in-depth explanation of the ranking’s methodology can be found on Time magazine’s website.
The Sacramento Bee
Vince Basada is a 2026 summer reporting intern for The Sacramento Bee. He is a rising senior at UC Davis and works as a news editor at the school’s student paper, The California Aggie.