Credit: Fresno State
September 8, 2024 - By BoNhia Lee - Fresno State continues to rank among the best public and private universities nationwide for helping students improve their socioeconomic status through educational opportunities.
The university ranked No. 4 in the nation for social mobility in The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse 2024 Best Colleges in the U.S. rankings published Sept. 4, moving up from No. 6 last year. Fresno State also ranked No. 15 for best student experience, No. 16 for Best Value and No. 51 overall among the 500 best universities in the country.
Fresno State is one of four California State University campuses in the top 10 for providing a high-quality education at an affordable price to create opportunities for students to move from one socioeconomic class to another. About 64% of Fresno State students are the first in their families to attend college.
“At Fresno State, our students receive a world-class comprehensive education with the opportunity to engage in service-learning, high-impact practices and research,” said Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval. “These skills and experiences result in a Fresno State degree that empowers and uplifts our talented students from the Valley and beyond to become emerging leaders at home and around the world.”
The Wall Street Journal, with its research partners College Pulse and Statista, has published a college ranking since 2016. The ranking focuses on the importance of student outcomes such as graduation rates and graduate salaries to help students and their families identify which colleges will do the most to help them graduate and make more money. The college scores are based on student outcomes, learning environment and diversity.
Fresno State has consistently ranked among the nation’s best for affordability, outcomes and social mobility. In August, the university ranked in the top tier of the 2024 Economic Mobility Index published by Third Way, a Washington, D.C.-based national think tank. The organization compared universities nationwide on how well they offer a strong return on investment for students with the greatest financial need.
The university also rose to No. 22 nationally in Washington Monthly’s 2024 annual list of top universities and ranked No. 13 in the Best Bang for the Buck: West category. In June, Fresno State received a 4.5-star rating on a 5-star scale in Money’s 2024 Best Colleges rating of the nation’s best colleges for quality and affordability.
Fresno State is one of 25 U.S. colleges and universities to receive the first Carnegie Leadership for Public Purpose classification. Of the 25 institutions to receive this designation in the inaugural 2024 cycle, Fresno State is the only public institution in California (no other California State University or University of California institutions were selected). The classification recognizes institutions that have committed to campus-wide efforts to advance leadership in pursuit of public goods like justice, equity, diversity and liberty.
In 2022, Fresno State earned R2 designation as a “Doctoral University – High Research Activity” by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, highlighting a significant commitment to growing research activities.
Source: Fresno State
