2020 U.S. News Rankings: East Bay Colleges, Universities

EAST BAY AREA, CA — If you're looking for a top rated education, you don't have to venture beyond the East Bay. Five colleges and universities have been singled out for excellence on U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 best colleges lists.

The top ranked college is the University of California - Berkeley, rated No. 2 in top public universities behind UCLA. UC Berkeley was also named No. 22 in overall best national rankings.

Below are the Top 3 Public Universities:
1. University of California—Los Angeles
2. University of California—Berkeley
3. University of Michigan—Ann Arbor

The other four East Bay colleges received rankings on the Best Regional Universities West List:

• Trinity University, San Antonio, TX (1)
• University of Portland, Portland, OR (2)
• Whitworth University, Spokane, WA (3)
• California Polytechnic State University--San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA (4)
• St. Mary's College of California, Moraga, CA (5 - tie)
• Mills College, Oakland, CA (5 - tie)
• —
• Holy Names University, Oakland, CA (62 - tie)
• —
• California State University - East Bay, Hayward, CA (80)

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.

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.

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.”

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)

— Patch editors Feroze Dhanoa and Bea Karnes contributed to this story