107 CA Schools Ranked Among U.S. News’ 2022-2023 Best Colleges

CALIFORNIA — One hundred seven colleges and universities in California are among higher education institutions included in the 2022-2023 Best Colleges rankings released Monday by U.S. News & World Report. Stanford, UCLA and UC-Berkeley were in the top three nationally in some categories, but so were Pomona College, UC-Riverside, and CSU-Long Beach.

U.S. News has been publishing the respected guide for prospective students and families for nearly 40 years. Methodology has changed over the years to reflect changes in higher education, Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News, said in a news release.

U.S. News touts its ranking for providing millions of parents with “useful data and information to help with one of life’s biggest decisions,” Castro said.

U.S. News ranked 1,500 colleges and universities across 17 academic measures. To rank colleges, U.S. News first places each school into a category based on its mission and, in some cases, its geographic location.

National universities, which focus on research and offer several doctoral programs, are ranked separately from liberal arts colleges.

California schools that made the ranking include:

National Universities

Stanford University, Stanford. Ranked #3.
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Ranked #9.
University of California, Berkeley. Ranked #20 (tie).
University of California, Los Angeles. Ranked #20 (tie).

National Liberal Arts Colleges

Pomona College, Claremont. Ranked #3.
Claremont McKenna College, Claremont. Ranked #9.
Harvey Mudd College, Claremont. Ranked #29 (tie).
Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo. Ranked #29 (tie).

National Universities (Public)

University of California, Berkeley. Ranked #20 (tie).
University of California, Los Angeles. Ranked #20 (tie).
University of California, Santa Barbara. Ranked #32.

Overall, the top three schools in each category are:

National Universities

1. Princeton University (New Jersey)
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Tie: Harvard University (Massachusetts), Stanford University (California) and Yale University (Connecticut)

National Liberal Arts Colleges

1. Williams College (Massachusetts)
2. Amherst College (Massachusetts)
3. Pomona College (California)

National Universities (Public)

1. Tie: University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, Los Angeles
   3. Tie: University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and University of Virginia

National Liberal Arts Colleges (Public)

1. United States Naval Academy
2. United States Military Academy at West Point
3. United States Air Force Academy

Top Performers on Social Mobility — National Universities

1. Keiser University (Florida)
2. University of California, Riverside
3. California State University – Long Beach

Top Performers on Social Mobility — National Liberal Arts Colleges

1. Salem College (North Carolina)
2. Lake Forest College (Illinois)
3. Tougaloo College (Mississippi)

Notably, Columbia University decided against submitting data after Mathematics Professor Michael Thaddeus questioned the school's rise from 18th place in 1988, to 2nd place in 2021. The university acknowledged submitting incorrect information.

U.S. News Chief Data Strategist Robert Morse told CNN that schools report most of the information for their Best Colleges rankings directly to U.S. News,"U.S. News, a founding member of the Common Data Set initiative, incorporates questions from the CDS and proprietary questions on this survey. U.S. News relies on schools to accurately report their data."

To compile the rankings, U.S. News focuses on academic quality and places emphasis on outcome measures, including graduation rates, retention rates, graduate indebtedness and social mobility. Graduation rates and other outcomes represent 40 percent of each school’s overall score.

U.S. News said it changed how it weights SAT and ACT scores because demand for the college entrance exams plummeted due to the pandemic, especially among students living in low-income households.

Part-time faculty members were considered in measures on faculty resources, reflecting a trend for more part-time instructors, U.S. News said. Previously, only full-time instructors were considered.

Read more about the methodology.