Several Bay Area public and private colleges and universities made it onto U.S. News & World Report’s “2025 Best National University Rankings” list, just after many of the same schools were also highly ranked on a list put out by the Wall Street Journal.
Stanford University was ranked fourth on the national list while UC Berkeley was ranked No. 17. In California, however, the two universities remained at the top of the state, taking the No. 1 and No. 4 spots, respectively.
UC Davis tied with UC Irvine for the 33rd spot on the list, and UC Merced was ranked 58th. Santa Clara University ranked 63rd in the nation. UC Santa Cruz took the No. 84 spot. Two San Francisco placed on the list: the University of San Francisco, which was ranked 109th in the country, and San Francisco State University, at 204. Cal State East Bay entered U.S. News & World Report’s list at No. 273.
Several well-known private universities topped the national list, with Princeton, MIT and Harvard taking the top three spots. Other California universities also were ranked highly, including Cal Tech, which took the No. 6 spot on the list, and UCLA, which was ranked 15th in the country.
In a press release, Santa Clara University boasted that it was among the top 15% out of 500 university’s in the U.S. It also ranked No. 11 on the 2025 list of best colleges in California. A variety of factors contributed to the school’s standing, including academic reputation, faculty resources, student selectivity, graduation rates and alumni outcomes.
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The private South Bay university highlighted its undergraduate business program, which gives students opportunities to learn finance, entrepreneurship, accounting and management information systems through rigorous curriculum and real-world applications. The university also drew attention to its undergraduate psychology and computer science programs, which both boast improvements in their national rankings.
“At Santa Clara University, we strive to provide a transformative educational experience rooted in Jesuit values,” said Santa Clara University President Julie Sullivan in the statement. “This ranking reflects the quality of an SCU education and the outstanding work and dedication of our entire campus community — our exceptional faculty, staff, and students — who contribute to our vision of educating leaders of competence, conscience, and compassion.”
UC Merced Vice Chancellor Ed Klotzbier said that it’s an “exciting time to be on campus” as the youngest UC climbs the rankings. The university is listed as 26th best public school by U.S. News & World Report and No. 1 for colleges in the U.S. for social mobility. He attributed their success to high graduation rates, affordable tuition and financial aid and internships that prepare students for the workforce. He also noted that a lot UC Merced students were first-generation college students.
“To be 26th in the country, 58th overall, when you’re only at 19 years old as an institution is quite astonishing,” Klotzbier said. “It really speaks to the work of our faculty, the staff, the support we give our students, the students who attend the university and how successful they are both going to school here and then graduating from UC Merced into great careers.”
Klotzbier said that the university has been adding new majors, including a chemical engineering and data sciences. Next year, they are planning on adding new majors in aerospace engineering, biochemistry and communications. In May, the school also broke ground on a four-story medical education building. UC Merced athletes also qualified for NCAA Division II competitions.
“I think you’re seeing a school on the rise,” Klotzbier said.
However, the college ranking lists from U.S. News & World Report did not come without scrutiny. An article by the New York Times stated that U.S. News had reworked its methodology for determining the rankings last year. More specifically, they put more weight on retention and graduation rates for people with need-based Pell grants, leading to several public universities improving their rank while some private schools dropped a few places.
This year, U.S. News & World Report dropped the six-year graduation rates of first-generation students for some formulas, the New York Times reported.