The Brief

LOS ANGELES - Several California colleges were ranked among the top 100 in the country, according to the new 2026 Best Colleges rankings by U.S. News & World Report released on Tuesday.

The rankings evaluated 1,700 colleges and universities using more than a dozen factors measuring academic quality and long-term student success, such as graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student debt, and postgraduate earnings.

Local perspective:

Here are the top 10 California universities and where they ranked nationally:

UC Berkeley and UCLA ranked first and second, respectively, in the "Top Public Schools: National Universities" list.

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona ranked third in the "2026 Best Regional Universities: West" list.

Big picture view:

See Full Page