Fresno State one of best in nation for graduation-rate performance, U.S. News finds

Colleges in the San Joaquin Valley did fairly well in the latest U.S. News and World Report’s list of top colleges in the U.S for 2018.

Fresno State was third best in the nation for graduation-rate performance. That takes into account actual graduation performance vs. predicted performance, based on student demographics, spending per student and other factors.

Among other bright spots for parents and prospective students: Fresno State’s engineering program was ranked No. 74 out of 200 colleges in the U.S. Among its graduate programs, rehabilitation counseling, physical therapy, social work and speech-language pathology programs are all nationally ranked, according to the report.

The college’s graduate rehabilitation counseling department is the 24th best in the nation and tied with several other schools, including Auburn University, one of the largest universities in the South.

Overall, Fresno State was listed as No. 223 out of 311 national universities. Princeton University is ranked No. 1 in the 2018 report.

University of California, Merced came in at No. 165 among national universities and its doctoral program in engineering was ranked No. 162. UC Merced’s graduate program in psychology is also nationally ranked at No. 90.

Among regional universities in the West, Fresno Pacific University received a No. 41 ranking out of 141 schools. It was also ranked No. 41 among Best Value Schools. No. 1 in both of those categories is Trinity University in San Antonio.

This story was originally published September 12, 2017 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Fresno State one of best in nation for graduation-rate performance, U.S. News finds."