WSJ/College Pulse 2026 Best Colleges in America published today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WSJ rankings actually fill a very important niche for families that have little to no hope of attending even a top 50 school.

As an example, they list schools that we all know aren't "the best", but they represent likely great values and options for a lot of kids. Just looking at the list, below is an interesting sampling:

13. UC Davis
14. UC Merced
17. San Jose State University
19. Loyola University MD (I actually don't know if that's a great value)
21. Cal State Stanislaus
22. Cal State Pomona
28. Cal State San Obispo
32. Cal State Fresno
36. University of Detroit Mercy
38. University of Delaware
44. Baruch

It's not really saying these are the "best" colleges, but rather these colleges have the best relative outcomes for students.

I think including schools like Babson and Bentley is a bit unfair because they are 100% business...it's unclear how those schools would rank if only compared to Wharton, Stern, Ross et al.

End of the day, why do you go to college? To get a job. My problem with US News is it puts too much emphasis on graduation rate (like 25 percent). Most, if not all, high achieving students have no concern with graduating so this is not really something that should be weighted heavily. Also, it doesn’t consider academic rigor. For instance, Berkeley might be punished for being more rigorous than UCLA.

How would you ever be able to rank based on academic rigor? I assume Berkeley has hundreds of known "gut" classes, as does UCLA. How would you determine that Berkeley's Econ 101 class is more rigorous than UCLA or anyone else, and then apply this across an entire university's course offerings and do this in any kind of systematic fashion?

It’s common knowledge that private schools are easier than elite public schools. Privates can’t afford to completely test the limits of their students because they rely on satisfiability for endowment. Public schools can put their students through hell because they’ll get funding regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WSJ rankings actually fill a very important niche for families that have little to no hope of attending even a top 50 school.

As an example, they list schools that we all know aren't "the best", but they represent likely great values and options for a lot of kids. Just looking at the list, below is an interesting sampling:

13. UC Davis
14. UC Merced
17. San Jose State University
19. Loyola University MD (I actually don't know if that's a great value)
21. Cal State Stanislaus
22. Cal State Pomona
28. Cal State San Obispo
32. Cal State Fresno
36. University of Detroit Mercy
38. University of Delaware
44. Baruch

It's not really saying these are the "best" colleges, but rather these colleges have the best relative outcomes for students.

I think including schools like Babson and Bentley is a bit unfair because they are 100% business...it's unclear how those schools would rank if only compared to Wharton, Stern, Ross et al.

End of the day, why do you go to college? To get a job. My problem with US News is it puts too much emphasis on graduation rate (like 25 percent). Most, if not all, high achieving students have no concern with graduating so this is not really something that should be weighted heavily. Also, it doesn’t consider academic rigor. For instance, Berkeley might be punished for being more rigorous than UCLA.

How would you ever be able to rank based on academic rigor? I assume Berkeley has hundreds of known "gut" classes, as does UCLA. How would you determine that Berkeley's Econ 101 class is more rigorous than UCLA or anyone else, and then apply this across an entire university's course offerings and do this in any kind of systematic fashion?

It’s common knowledge that private schools are easier than elite public schools. Privates can’t afford to completely test the limits of their students because they rely on satisfiability for endowment. Public schools can put their students through hell because they’ll get funding regardless.

Sorry...none of this common knowledge. Private schools may have more lenient grading policies, but that doesn't mean they are less rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Great list for the given criteria
Stop morning if your school doesn’t for it

[Anonymous]

*fit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The WSJ rankings actually fill a very important niche for families that have little to no hope of attending even a top 50 school.

As an example, they list schools that we all know aren't "the best", but they represent likely great values and options for a lot of kids. Just looking at the list, below is an interesting sampling:

13. UC Davis
14. UC Merced
17. San Jose State University
19. Loyola University MD (I actually don't know if that's a great value)
21. Cal State Stanislaus
22. Cal State Pomona
28. Cal State San Obispo
32. Cal State Fresno
36. University of Detroit Mercy
38. University of Delaware
44. Baruch

It's not really saying these are the "best" colleges, but rather these colleges have the best relative outcomes for students.

I think including schools like Babson and Bentley is a bit unfair because they are 100% business...it's unclear how those schools would rank if only compared to Wharton, Stern, Ross et al.

I think LUMD gives out good merit aid.

Some of those Cal State numbers are skewed though because being in CA, the pay there is very high, but so is the col. It's too bad they can't adjust the income by col to get a more accurate picture.

Even so, Cal State schools do a great job of bringing up 1st gen and lower income students. I was one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WSJ rankings actually fill a very important niche for families that have little to no hope of attending even a top 50 school.

As an example, they list schools that we all know aren't "the best", but they represent likely great values and options for a lot of kids. Just looking at the list, below is an interesting sampling:

13. UC Davis
14. UC Merced
17. San Jose State University
19. Loyola University MD (I actually don't know if that's a great value)
21. Cal State Stanislaus
22. Cal State Pomona
28. Cal State San Obispo
32. Cal State Fresno
36. University of Detroit Mercy
38. University of Delaware
44. Baruch

It's not really saying these are the "best" colleges, but rather these colleges have the best relative outcomes for students.

I think including schools like Babson and Bentley is a bit unfair because they are 100% business...it's unclear how those schools would rank if only compared to Wharton, Stern, Ross et al.

I think LUMD gives out good merit aid.

Some of those Cal State numbers are skewed though because being in CA, the pay there is very high, but so is the col. It's too bad they can't adjust the income by col to get a more accurate picture.

Even so, Cal State schools do a great job of bringing up 1st gen and lower income students. I was one of them.

You might be correct...however, it's not like the SUNY schools are ranked super highly (best is Binghamton at 120) and some of those are in high COL areas. Baruch I guess is the best proxy, but that's the only NY public school in the top 100.

[Anonymous]

I agree with this opinion

"Honestly, the least reliable ranking at this point is US News considering WSJ and Forbes use almost the same methodology. Two major, major, major publications can’t be wrong, right? Don’t forget that WSJ and Forbes are much bigger, wealthier, and significant than US News."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Babson lol
You know paywall doesn’t matter then.

I simply don’t understand why it’s so hard to believe that other schools might be better than what us news has been telling people. Wall Street journal and Forbes gave you the numbers. These are the facts.

WSJ is very solid in their methodology.

[Anonymous]

The answer you get depends on the question you ask. Some excerpts:


"Unlike other school rankings, this list emphasizes one point: How well did the college prepare students for financial success? More than any other factor, it rewards the boost an institution provides to its graduates’ salaries, beyond an estimate of what they could have expected from attending any college.

Beyond the marquee names, the rankings’ distinct methodology highlights some institutions that don’t have as much name recognition but still help their students achieve remarkable success.

Babson College—the small Wellesley, Mass., school focused on business and entrepreneurship—retained its No. 2 spot from last year. Claremont McKenna College, near Los Angeles, clocked in at No. 6, and Davidson College, near Charlotte, N.C., ranked 10th.

In addition to graduates’ salaries, the rankings consider schools’ graduation rates and diversity—and their learning environment, based on a survey of about 120,000 students and recent alumni. The survey measured factors such as quality of teaching and feedback, career preparation and learning facilities, and how likely students were to recommend their school to a friend.

Schools that garnered top scores for learning environment included Babson, Washington and Lee University and Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, and Brigham Young University in Utah.

Many collegiate business programs require soon-to-be-graduates to pitch their own entrepreneurial idea as part of a capstone-style class. Babson College, which landed at the No. 2 spot overall in this year’s rankings, demands this of first-year students.

Hands-on learning begins right away at Babson, with a yearlong course called Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship where groups of students receive a loan of up to $3,000 to fund their own business. The class teaches accountability and resilience, as well as how to create value, says Babson’s president, Stephen Spinelli.

“That has a real impact on how they view all the other courses they take,” Spinelli says. “They’re going to be thinking about: How is this going to help me find opportunities and create business models so that value can come from this?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WSJ rankings actually fill a very important niche for families that have little to no hope of attending even a top 50 school.

As an example, they list schools that we all know aren't "the best", but they represent likely great values and options for a lot of kids. Just looking at the list, below is an interesting sampling:

13. UC Davis
14. UC Merced
17. San Jose State University
19. Loyola University MD (I actually don't know if that's a great value)
21. Cal State Stanislaus
22. Cal State Pomona
28. Cal State San Obispo
32. Cal State Fresno
36. University of Detroit Mercy
38. University of Delaware
44. Baruch

It's not really saying these are the "best" colleges, but rather these colleges have the best relative outcomes for students.

I think including schools like Babson and Bentley is a bit unfair because they are 100% business...it's unclear how those schools would rank if only compared to Wharton, Stern, Ross et al.

End of the day, why do you go to college? To get a job. My problem with US News is it puts too much emphasis on graduation rate (like 25 percent). Most, if not all, high achieving students have no concern with graduating so this is not really something that should be weighted heavily. Also, it doesn’t consider academic rigor. For instance, Berkeley might be punished for being more rigorous than UCLA.

How would you ever be able to rank based on academic rigor? I assume Berkeley has hundreds of known "gut" classes, as does UCLA. How would you determine that Berkeley's Econ 101 class is more rigorous than UCLA or anyone else, and then apply this across an entire university's course offerings and do this in any kind of systematic fashion?

It’s common knowledge that private schools are easier than elite public schools. Privates can’t afford to completely test the limits of their students because they rely on satisfiability for endowment. Public schools can put their students through hell because they’ll get funding regardless.

The most rigorous colleges in America-Harvey Mudd, Caltech, MIT, Stanford, Swarthmore, Uchicago- are all private institutions.

[Anonymous]

2026 WSJ Best Salaries (Schools with most impact on graduate's salaries)

1.Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2.Stanford University
3. Princeton
4. Harvey Mudd
5. Georgia Tech
6. Cal Tech
7. UPenn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The WSJ rankings actually fill a very important niche for families that have little to no hope of attending even a top 50 school.

As an example, they list schools that we all know aren't "the best", but they represent likely great values and options for a lot of kids. Just looking at the list, below is an interesting sampling:

13. UC Davis
14. UC Merced
17. San Jose State University
19. Loyola University MD (I actually don't know if that's a great value)
21. Cal State Stanislaus
22. Cal State Pomona
28. Cal State San Obispo
32. Cal State Fresno
36. University of Detroit Mercy
38. University of Delaware
44. Baruch

It's not really saying these are the "best" colleges, but rather these colleges have the best relative outcomes for students.

I think including schools like Babson and Bentley is a bit unfair because they are 100% business...it's unclear how those schools would rank if only compared to Wharton, Stern, Ross et al.

sure but how do you explain yale which is so good at humanities and business/engineering/CS are not their thing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WSJ rankings actually fill a very important niche for families that have little to no hope of attending even a top 50 school.

As an example, they list schools that we all know aren't "the best", but they represent likely great values and options for a lot of kids. Just looking at the list, below is an interesting sampling:

13. UC Davis
14. UC Merced
17. San Jose State University
19. Loyola University MD (I actually don't know if that's a great value)
21. Cal State Stanislaus
22. Cal State Pomona
28. Cal State San Obispo
32. Cal State Fresno
36. University of Detroit Mercy
38. University of Delaware
44. Baruch

It's not really saying these are the "best" colleges, but rather these colleges have the best relative outcomes for students.

I think including schools like Babson and Bentley is a bit unfair because they are 100% business...it's unclear how those schools would rank if only compared to Wharton, Stern, Ross et al.

sure but how do you explain yale which is so good at humanities and business/engineering/CS are not their thing

Consulting, Consulting, Consulting, Consulting, Consulting, Consulting...

[Anonymous]

They throw in a surprise in top 5 to make it newsworthy. Throw in more than one surprise in the top 5, people just discount the whole thing.

There is a book on US News ranking and this is one of the things that was mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WSJ rankings actually fill a very important niche for families that have little to no hope of attending even a top 50 school.

As an example, they list schools that we all know aren't "the best", but they represent likely great values and options for a lot of kids. Just looking at the list, below is an interesting sampling:

13. UC Davis
14. UC Merced
17. San Jose State University
19. Loyola University MD (I actually don't know if that's a great value)
21. Cal State Stanislaus
22. Cal State Pomona
28. Cal State San Obispo
32. Cal State Fresno
36. University of Detroit Mercy
38. University of Delaware
44. Baruch

It's not really saying these are the "best" colleges, but rather these colleges have the best relative outcomes for students.

I think including schools like Babson and Bentley is a bit unfair because they are 100% business...it's unclear how those schools would rank if only compared to Wharton, Stern, Ross et al.

sure but how do you explain yale which is so good at humanities and business/engineering/CS are not their thing

This isn't how do you explain why Ivy League schools generally rank highly (5 of the 8 are top 10)...but how a Babson or a Bentley always does very well in the WSJ rankings specifically. They excel at one thing, and just one thing.