CSUSM Ranks Among Nation's Best
By Emmi van Zoest
Cal State San Marcos is ranked 97th in the nation in the Wall Street Journal/College Pulse “2025 Best Colleges in the U.S.,” which ranks the top 500 universities.
The Wall Street Journal determined the rankings based on data collected in three main categories: student outcomes, learning environment and diversity. The newspaper notes that the rankings measure “how well each college sets graduates up for financial success.” They examine how much a university improves students’ chances of graduating and their future earnings, balancing those outcomes with feedback from students on college life.
There are additional categories in which universities are ranked based on student experience, best salaries, social mobility and overall best value.
CSUSM placed highly in those categories, including:
- 19th in social mobility
- 51st in student experience
- 57th in best value
- 83rd in best salaries
Over the summer, CSUSM received four out of a possible five stars on Money magazine's list of “Best Colleges in America" for 2024.
Media Contact
Eric Breier, Interim assistant director of editorial and external affairs
ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314