SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY is among the best public colleges in the U.S., according to recent rankings.
Money magazine has given San Jose State University a five-star rating in its 2025 Best Colleges list, which scored more than 700 four-year universities nationwide based on quality of academics, affordability and outcomes for alumni. Eighteen other public universities scored a five-star rating, 14 of which are in California, including UC Berkeley, UCLA and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The magazine’s rating highlighted SJSU’s high graduation rate and location within Silicon Valley.
“Like much of the California State University system, SJSU is regularly recognized for its accessibility, and it scores well on multiple measures of economic and social mobility,” Money’s analysis stated.
About 63% of San Jose State’s student population is Asian and Hispanic or Latino, according to 2023 demographic data.
Money measured each university’s quality of education based on graduation rates, as well as grades, test scores, student to faculty ratio and other metrics. The heaviest weighted category was affordability, which the magazine calculated using expected prices paid by students through tuition and other costs.
In addition to its high graduation rate of 75%, San Jose State has an 80% acceptance rate. According to the magazine’s analysis, university graduates typically earn $78,990 annually. The ranking said the cost of attendance is also relatively low. SJSU’s tuition and campus fees for the 2025-26 school year are $8,846 excluding room and board.
SJSU spokesperson Michelle Smith McDonald said the high rating shows how the university prepares students to succeed in the workforce.
“We believe our combination of inexpensive annual cost, our location in the heart of Silicon Valley’s innovation hub and our robust support systems validates our role as a national leader in public education,” McDonald told San José Spotlight.
Russell Hancock, CEO of economic think tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley, said he isn’t surprised SJSU received a high rating. He said university alumni are hard workers across a variety of industries, from computer science and engineering to marketing and business. He said the university’s faculty is top notch — most highly-ranked schools have award-winning faculty who focus solely on research, but at SJSU education is a priority.
“Often, the rankings will count the number of Nobel prize winners on the faculty … What they don’t tell you is if those people are actually available and accessible to students,” Hancock told San José Spotlight. “At San Jose State, you have a highly accessible faculty, they take the responsibility very seriously.”
Hancock wants the recognition from Money magazine to make more people aware of the university, as he said the rating shows SJSU is a high-quality, affordable higher education option for people looking to carve inroads into Silicon Valley.
“People in Silicon Valley don’t know enough about San Jose State University, it’s a pillar of our dynamic ecosystem,” Hancock said. “Their graduates are fueling the Silicon Valley ecosystem.”
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at sakura@sanjosespotlight.com or @SakuCannestra on X.
This story originally appeared in San José Spotlight.