Fresno State improved its ranking among the best national colleges and universities, rising to No. 22 in Washington Monthly’s 2024 annual list of top universities, compared to No. 26 the previous year.

The university also ranked No. 13 in the Best Bang for the Buck: West category for how well it helps non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices. About 64% of Fresno State students are the first in their families to attend college.

In Monthly’s new ranking of “America’s Best and Worst Colleges for Master’s Degrees,” Fresno State ranked No. 5 for best in social work. 

“Our commitment to our talented students remains unwavering,” said Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval. “At Fresno State, we prioritize meaningful student experiences through community-engaged teaching, research and scholarship to elevate the quality of life of our students, their families, our Valley and the world. I’m deeply proud of our campus mission, and I am excited for what’s to come as we position ourselves as leaders of social and economic change in the region and nation.” 

Washington Monthly has published its list of top schools for the past 20 years with what it calls “a different kind of college ranking,” calling attention to colleges based on their contribution to the public good — social mobility, public service and research — not just on prestige or wealth. This year’s rankings were published on Aug. 26. 

This is the ninth straight year Fresno State has ranked in the top 40 national universities among 442 total – and the ninth straight year Fresno State has been the highest-ranked campus in the California State University system. At No. 22, Fresno State ranks alongside all eight Ivy League schools and private universities like Stanford, MIT and Duke. 

Here are some ways Fresno State showed its commitment to education, research and impact on the community: 

  • For the 15th consecutive year, the Fresno State community provided over 1 million hours of service to the community. 
  • The California Department of Health Care Access and Information awarded a $5.25 million grant to the Master of Social Work program at Fresno State to expand its capacity to produce qualified health care professionals. 
  • Fresno State received a nearly $8 million grant from the Department of Education to implement a program that transforms advising to increase the success of all students, especially minority and low-income students.
  • The university was awarded more than $70 million in grants and contracts to support research over the past year. Fresno State earned R2 designation as a “Doctoral University – High Research Activity” by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education in 2022, highlighting a significant commitment to growing research activities.
  • About 60% of the more than 6,000 students who graduated this past May were first-generation students whose parents do not have bachelor’s degrees. For many, like the President’s Graduate Medalist Angel Rojas, the opportunities at Fresno State inspired him to pursue a doctoral degree.  

In June, Fresno State received a 4.5-star rating on a 5-star scale in Money’s 2024 Best Colleges rating published on June 12.

Fresno State is one of the 25 U.S. colleges and universities to receive the first Carnegie Leadership for Public Purpose classification. Of the 25 institutions to receive this designation in the inaugural 2024 cycle, Fresno State is the only public institution in California; no other California State University or University of California institutions were selected. The classification recognizes institutions that have committed to campus-wide efforts to advance leadership in pursuit of public goods like justice, equity, diversity and liberty. 

Washington Monthly Top 30 National Universities:

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  2. Stanford University
  3. University of Pennsylvania
  4. Harvard University   
  5. Princeton University
  6. Columbia University, in the City of NY 
  7. Duke University
  8. Cornell University 
  9. California Institute of Technology 
  10. University of Notre Dame 
  11. Yale University
  12. University of Wisconsin-Madison
  13. University of California, Berkeley
  14. Johns Hopkins University 
  15. Georgetown University 
  16. Florida International University
  17. University of Washington, Seattle      
  18. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor      
  19. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill       
  20. University of California, Los Angeles
  21. Vanderbilt University              
  22. California State University, Fresno            
  23. Washington University in St. Louis               
  24. University of California, San Diego
  25. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
  26.  University of California, Davis           
  27. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign        
  28. George Washington University 
  29. Lehigh University 
  30. Brown University