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Two Sacramento-area schools have been recognized in Time magazine’s inaugural list of America’s Best Colleges of 2026-2027.
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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.
How were schools scored?
Time and Statista gave schools a score out of 100 based on three pillars: student outcomes, learning environment and their attractiveness to students.
Student outcomes accounted for 75% of a school’s score, with a focus on assessing the value gained by students from attendance. It encapsulated graduates’ earnings, graduation rates and return on education (weighing the earnings students achieved post-graduation against the cost of attending school).
The learning environment of a school accounted for 15% of the final score. It weighed 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 a school’s score, 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 wound 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 Sacramento-area schools made the top 500?
Two Sacramento area schools were recognized on Time’s list — both are public and have large student populations.
UC Davis was the top school in the area, ranking in 90th place with a score of 78.86. The school has a student population of nearly 40,000 and is a tier one research university.
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California State University, Sacramento — or Sacramento State — was the second school in the region to make it in the top 500. The school ranked 425th with a score of 58.57. It has around 31,000 students and is the sixth-largest school in the CSU system.
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.
Two California schools made the list’s top five. Stanford University ranked first, which Time highlighted as being “known for its startup culture and connection to Silicon Valley.” In third was the small liberal arts college Harvey Mudd. It is part of Claremont Colleges and has an enrollment of some 900 students. Harvey Mudd only offers STEM majors, though the magazine noted the school’s liberal arts background encouraged engagement in humanities, social sciences and the arts.
Other top California schools included: the California Institute of Technology, ranked in sixth place; Claremont McKenna College, another Claremont Colleges school which ranked ninth; and the University of California, Berkeley, in 15th place. In total, 54 California colleges made the list.
Which California schools made the top 500?
Here are the 54 California colleges and universities on the list, in order of rank and score out of 100.
- Stanford University | #1 | 96.36
- Harvey Mudd College | #3 | 94.39
- California Institute of Technology | #6 | 92.48
- Claremont McKenna College | #9 | 91.21
- UC Berkeley | #15 | 89.43
- Santa Clara University | #29 | 85.33
- University of Southern California | #32 | 85.05
- UC Los Angeles | #34 | 84.59
- UC San Diego | #35 | 84.37
- California Polytechnic State University — San Luis Obispo | #38 | 84.08
- UC Santa Barbara | #43 | 83.86
- University of La Verne | #70 | 81.48
- Pomona College | #76 | 80.87
- UC San Diego | #86 | 79.39
- UC Davis | #90 | 78.86
- Cal Poly Maritime Academy | #114 | 76.24
- UC Irvine | #118 | 75.93
- Pepperdine University | #130 | 74
- San Diego State University | #135 | 73.53
- Scripps College | #145 | 72.51
- Fresno Pacific University | #158 | 71.58
- Mount Saint Mary’s University | #172 | 70.55
- University of Redlands | #176 | 70.34
- California State University, Long Beach | #180 | 70.17
- National University | #181 | 70.15
- California State University, Stanislaus | #188 | 69.91
- Loyola Marymount University | #200 | 69.32
- CSU Dominguez Hills | #209 | 68.74
- CSU Northridge | #219 | 68.34
- Saint Mary’s College of California | #226 | 67.95
- Sonoma State University | #232 | 67.86
- University of San Francisco | #238 | 67.68
- CSU Chico | #243 | 67.35
- CSU Los Angeles | #249 | 67.05
- CSU Channel Islands | #269 | 66.23
- CSU San Bernardino | #280 | 65.42
- Occidental College | #281 | 65.38
- California State Polytechnic University – Pomona | #287 | 64.87
- UC Merced | #307 | 64.06
- California Lutheran University | #310 | 63.90
- CSU Fullerton | #321 | 63.53
- Azusa Pacific University | #332 | 63.12
- CSU Fresno | #335 | 63.02
- Pitzer College | #346 | 62.09
- CSU Bakersfield | #354 | 61.71
- Dominican University of California | #370 | 61.01
- Chapman University | #375 | 60.88
- CSU Monterey Bay | #386 | 60.31
- UC Santa Cruz | #388 | 60.26
- Menlo College | #395 | 59.74
- CSU San Marcos | #396 | 59.72
- CSU Sacramento | #425 | 58.57
- California Baptist University | #430 | 58.35
- Pacific Union College | #440 | 57.95
Time’s ranking relied 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.
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