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LOS ANGELES - California universities dominated a recent Forbes list of the top 500 U.S. Colleges, with three ranking as the top public schools in the nation.
Local perspective:
UC Berkeley ranked #5 nationwide and #1 among public universities based on academic, financial and career outcomes for undergraduate students.
It's the third consecutive year Cal has secured the fifth spot overall, making it the only public university to be in the top 10.
Following UC Berkeley in the top three rankings are UCLA and UC San Diego.
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Among the top five universities, UC Berkeley was notable for the lowest average debt upon graduation: $6,529. The median annual salary over the first 20 years after graduation was $170,100, roughly on par with the other top-10 universities.
Forbes noted that UCLA received 145,058 applicants, which is the most in the nation.
At UC San Diego, Forbes said the university admitted around the same number of undergraduates as UC Berkeley and UCLA in 2023 but emphasized its undergraduate research opportunities such as oceanography, biology and computer science.
Dig deeper:
Forbes chose its 25 top public colleges based on several factors from the 2023-2024 academic year, including alumni salaries, academic outcomes and return on investment.
"Schools ranked highly on our list if their students returned after their first year, graduated on time, secured high salaries after graduation and left college with little student debt," according to Forbes' methodology. "We also rewarded colleges that enrolled a greater percentage of low-income students."
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Other factors considered include the number of graduates on the Forbes American Leaders List, debt and retention rate.
Big picture view:
Aside from the California universities that made the top 10, the others were a mix of Ivy League and private schools.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology of Boston took the top spot, followed by Princeton University (#3), Harvard University (#6), Williams College (#7), Johns Hopkins University (#8), Yale University (#9) and the University of Pennsylvania rounding out the top 10.
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To see the full list of rankings and view by campus or state, tap or click here.
The Source: Information for this story is based on the most recent "America's Top Colleges" list from Forbes, which highlights the publication's findings on the top 500 universities in the U.S. The information presented, including specific rankings, median graduate salaries, and other data points, is drawn directly from Forbes' published report and its website, which details the methodology used to create the rankings.