TIME Ranks Baruch Among America’s Best Colleges

August 28, 2026

Three students in business-casual attire walking on the Baruch College plaza surrounded by trees and campus buildings.

Baruch received high marks for its student outcomes and overall return on investment.

Baruch College earned top marks in TIME’s inaugural “America’s Best Colleges 2026-27” rankings, placing #2 among New York public colleges and #13 nationally for excelling at student outcomes and delivering a strong return on investment.

Among the 500 public and private colleges and universities evaluated, Baruch ranked #47 overall, putting it ahead of more than 90% of the institutions assessed.

High Score for Student Outcomes

Student outcomes—which accounted for 75 percent of the score and included measures such as graduation rates, alumni earnings, and return on investment—were a particular strength for Baruch. In this category, the College earned the 17th-highest student outcomes score in the nation.

Other factors considered by TIME and its partner Statista included the learning environment, measured through metrics such as student-to-faculty ratio and campus diversity, as well as institutional attractiveness, based on admission and enrollment yield rates.

Overall, Baruch earned a score of 83.26, placing it in front of institutions including Boston College, the University of Illinois, Florida State University, Bucknell University, the University of Connecticut, and Binghamton University.

Building on Years of Top Rankings

The TIME ranking is the latest in a long list of national recognitions highlighting Baruch’s leadership in educational value, social mobility, and student success. Recent rankings from The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, and Forbes have similarly recognized the College for delivering strong return on investment and career outcomes, reinforcing Baruch’s position among the nation’s leading public institutions.

See the list of Baruch’s rankings and recognitions.

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