What students gain from college — and how that value compares with what they pay — helped put Cal State San Bernardino among TIME’s America’s Best Colleges of 2026-2027.

CSUSB was included among 500 public and private institutions in the publication’s inaugural college ranking, developed in partnership with data research firm Statista. The analysis emphasized student outcomes while also considering the learning environment and an institution’s attractiveness to prospective students.

The list also reflected broad representation from the California State University system. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was the highest-ranked CSU, while CSUSB appeared alongside campuses including San Diego State, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton and Fresno State.

Student outcomes carried the most weight, accounting for 75% of an institution’s overall score. CSUSB earned 78.44 in the category, which evaluated graduate earnings, graduation rates and return on education.

The earnings and graduation measures considered both reported results and whether graduates performed better than expected based on an institution’s student population, including its socioeconomic, demographic and STEM composition.

Return on education examined how long graduates might need to recover the cost of earning their undergraduate degree. The calculation divided the total blended cost of attendance by graduates’ annual earnings above a state-adjusted baseline, with shorter payback periods viewed more favorably.

Learning environment accounted for 15% of the evaluation, measuring student-to-faculty ratio, core spending per student and diversity. Attractiveness made up the remaining 10% and reflected how strongly students wanted to attend an institution, based on admission rates and the percentage of admitted students who enrolled.

CSUSB received an overall score of 65.42 (out of a possible 100), along with scores of 39.22 for learning environment (15% of the ranking’s total score) and 7.08 for attractiveness (10% of the total score).

The ranking drew from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, known as IPEDS, the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. It used the most recent federal data available at the beginning of April 2026.

TIME and Statista noted that the earnings information covered only graduates who had received Pell Grants and might not reflect outcomes for the full student population. Data updates released after the analysis also were not incorporated.

TIME’s ranking publication marks the first for the new academic year; U.S. News and World Report, Washington Monthly, The Wall Street Journal and the Princeton Review also are due out this fall. Money magazine gave CSUSB its highest rating, five stars, when it published its 2026 Best Colleges list in late June.