U.S. News & World Report ranks CSUSB 4th in social mobility

California State University, San Bernardino is one of the nation’s top universities when it comes to social mobility for its students, according to U.S. News & World Report, which ranked the school fourth in its annual Best Colleges rankings. That is a vast improvement over last year’s placing just outside the top ten.

“Being named among the nation’s top 5 institutions when it comes to social mobility is a testament to the hard work of our students, faculty and staff,” said CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales. “This shows how CSUSB is able to help its students breakdown barriers, prepares them to prosper once they graduate and advance into great paying jobs – helping them not only to define their own futures, but those of their families and even in their communities.”

Social mobility measures how well schools graduated students who received federal Pell Grants – typically from households earning less than $50,000 annually.

U.S. News’ ranking was computed by aggregating the two ranking factors assessing graduation rates of Pell-awarded students. Economically disadvantaged students are less likely than others to finish college, even when controlling for other characteristics.

The U.S. News & World Report rankings are determined based on: Graduation and retention rates; social mobility; graduation rate performance; undergraduate academic reputation; faculty resources for the 2021-22 academic year; student selectivity for the fall 2022 entering class; financial resources for students; the average alumni giving rate; and graduate indebtedness.