UC Riverside achieved a 4.5 out of 5-star rating in Money magazine’s Best Colleges in America 2023 rankings, released June 22. This recognition highlights the university’s ongoing commitment to providing a high-quality education that is both accessible and impactful for a diverse student population.
Money magazine overhauled its college rankings system in 2023. In past years, the magazine published a numbered list of institutions, but the latest methodology uses a “star” system to evaluate performance, with five stars representing the highest level of achievement. Under the previous system, UC Riverside was ranked No. 40 in the 2022 edition of Money’s “Best Value Colleges.” The move to a stars-based approach allows for a broader recognition of universities across multiple performance categories rather than limiting them to a single number on a list.
The Best Colleges 2023 methodology is based on three primary categories: quality of education, affordability, and outcomes. Each of these categories contains several subcategories designed to provide a comprehensive view of a university’s performance. Quality of education accounts for factors such as graduation rates, standardized test scores, student-to-faculty ratios, and yield rates. Affordability measures the net cost to students, the amount of debt they incur, and their ability to repay that debt after graduation. Outcomes examine the long-term results of a college education, including post-graduation earnings and career stability.
UC Riverside performed strongly across these measures. Money’s editors praised UCR’s economically diverse student body and its ability to provide impressive outcomes for graduates. The publication highlighted UCR’s graduation rate of 79 percent and an average salary of $64,000 a decade after enrollment as indicators of the institution’s success. These results underscore UCR’s role as a leader in higher education, especially in creating opportunities for students from all socioeconomic backgrounds.
On Money’s 2023 list of 736 four-year colleges, only 34 universities earned a perfect 5-star rating, while 190 institutions, including UC Riverside, received a 4.5-star rating. This places UCR among the top tier of universities nationwide in terms of quality, affordability, and outcomes.
The 2023 recognition builds upon a pattern of success for UC Riverside in national rankings. In recent years, UCR has consistently been acknowledged for its achievements in social mobility, affordability, and student success. Earlier this year, UCR received an invitation to join the prestigious Association of American Universities, a reflection of its growing reputation as a research powerhouse and its increasing national profile.
UCR has also excelled in rankings related to Pell Grant recipients. In March, The Chronicle of Higher Education named UC Riverside No. 1 in the nation for retention rates among Pell-recipient freshmen. Washington Monthly ranked UCR No. 4 among 444 universities nationwide for Pell Grant student performance in fall 2022. Additionally, Forbes ranked UCR the No. 33 public university in the nation during the same period.
Perhaps the most high-profile recognition has been UC Riverside’s four consecutive years as the nation’s top public university for social mobility, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. The social mobility category specifically measures how effectively a university helps students from low-income families graduate and improve their economic standing. UCR’s leadership in this category underscores its mission to provide opportunities that elevate students and their communities, reinforcing its role as one of the most impactful institutions of higher education in the United States.