UC San Diego Among 6 UC Campuses on Money’s List of ‘Five-Star Best Colleges’

UC San Diego is San Diego’s lone representative on Money’s 2024 list of “Five-Star Best Colleges.”

University of California campuses did well across the board on the list, compiled by personal finance digital platform Money and sponsored by SoFi, a digital financial platform.

Money notes that UCSD is “renowned for its science programs and stellar faculty,” adding that 88% of students graduate within six years, with early-career earnings of about $82,000.

Five other UC campuses – Los Angeles, Irvine, Riverside, Berkeley and Davis – received five stars. California State University is well represented too, with Long Beach State and Stanislaus State on the list, along with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly Pomona.

Five California private universities garnered five stars as well, Stanford, Caltech, Pomona College, Harvey Mudd College and Claremont McKenna College.

Overall, more than 50 colleges and universities received the five-star designation among the 745 across the nation that were part of Money’s “Best Colleges” survey.

Now in its 10th year, Money’s “Best Colleges” feature supports applicants as they seek the best value for their money. For the second time, Money analyzed schools and gave them a star rating instead of a numerical ranking, in an attempt to give users a more useful and nuanced research experience.

This rating system is based on the philosophy that there is not one, singular best college for every student. Instead, there’s a variety of outstanding, high-value colleges across the country.

The analysis gave weight to above-average graduation rates, while scoring colleges in three areas: quality, affordability and future earning potential.

The data also take into account the net price of a degree, average borrowing rates, median earnings and four “value add” calculations measuring a school’s actual performance against its predicted performance based on its student body.