Top Ten Best Value Ranking for Fresno Pacific University From The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal has released its list of the Best Colleges in the U.S.

Fresno Pacific University has landed in the top ten among private universities in California for Best Value.

FPU is number six in the state of California for private universities in the Best Value category, and number 49 for private universities in the nation. This makes FPU the number one university among the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) in this category.

“These rankings affirm our commitment to making Christ-centered higher education both excellent and accessible,” said FPU President André Stephens, Ph.D. “Affordability opens doors for more students to experience the transformational learning and community that define Fresno Pacific.”

When combining private and public universities, FPU is ranked:

Number 171 overall out of 584 schools rated nationally (84 schools more than The Journal ranked in 2024)
Number 23 for Social Mobility (making it the number one private university in the Western United States)
Number 123 for Student Experience
Number 165 for Best Value
Number 264 for Best Salaries

Last year, FPU ranked number 141 nationally overall out of 500 schools, number 14 for Social Mobility, number 72 in Student Experience and number 55 for Best Salaries.

What Does Best Value Mean?

The Journal determines a Best Value school using what it calls “Years to pay off net price.” According to its website, “Best Value ranking lists schools in order of how quickly the difference between their graduates’ salaries and those of comparable high-school graduates pays back the average net price of four years of study.”

The full top ten list of private universities in the Best Value category in California is:

Stanford University
California Institute of Technology
Harvey Mudd College
Claremont McKenna College
Pomona College
Fresno Pacific University
University of the Pacific
University of Southern California
University of the Redlands
Azusa Pacific University

Michael Hammond

Director of Content Strategy and Media Relations

Michael Hammond is the director of content strategy and media relations at Fresno Pacific University. Prior to working at FPU, he had a 19 year long career in church ministry. Michael got engaged to his high school sweetheart atop a castle in Germany, has three kids (whose names also all start with an M) and is on a lifelong quest to develop an encyclopedic knowledge of The Office.