How A Public School Beat Harvard And Yale To Become The Best College In America | Forbes

Public universities deliver the most outstanding education to the broadest range of students at the most affordable price. That’s the message of Forbes’ 2021 ranking of top colleges. Using a new methodology that counts low-income student outcomes and adds a giant federal database to Forbes’ tally of graduate earnings, for the first time ever, Forbes has ranked a public school, the University of California at Berkeley, in the No. 1 spot.

Harvard, unseated from first place, is a distant No. 7. There are five other publics in the top 25 including three UCs, the University of Michigan and the University of Florida. Forbes put the list together in consultation with higher ed consultant Michael Itzkowitz. See here for a complete methodology, here for a story about what makes the University of California great and here for a piece about the weirdest year in college sports.

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[slappytheclown]

I think what Harvard and Yale have to offer that most colleges don't is proximity to power and influence. You are essentially paying for a spot to go to a small summer camp with the children of the American elite, some of whom could become your friends and future colleagues. Maybe the economic deal isn't as good, but the potential social capital is unmatched.

[nickstoli]

For top tier students, it doesn't matter what college they go to. Nothing will stop them from getting the best education possible. But for everyone else, it's better to go to the best school you can get into. Since your peers will have a huge influence on your studies. The smarter your peers are, the more you'll get out of your studies. At least in theory.

[matthewadner]

Talks about Berkeley, shows pictures of Stanford

[harrisonwintergreen]

Thomas Sowell said the best thing he learned at Harvard was to not be impressed with someone just because they went to Harvard

[LexBryanTech]

Criteria:

Alumni Salary (20%)
Debt (15%)
Return On Investment (15%)
Graduation Rate (15%)
Forbes American Leaders List (15%)
Retention Rate (10%)
Academic Success (10%)

[indexcards]

Yale received an "F" for how it treats students with mental disabilities.

[ivanferraz]

I am from Brazil and I am really proud that I was accepted at Berkeley with a fellowship from Brazilian government. I was also accepted in Oxford, Harvard, University of Texas at Austin and Columbia, and I chose Berkeley :).

[TheMultisportGeek]

My daughter started at CAL this year. It’s academically very tough but she is loving it.

[thinusjacobsz]

I love that the metrics they're using a real-world concerns that are relevant to an average student's concerns when selecting a college.

[claytonlynch]

What? College as a monetary investment and not an experience driven life event to reminisce about years later as you still pay off an insane debt load? What a concept….

[richardberman]

I’m not sure that Berkeley is the number one college in America but I certainly don’t think that the US News ranking is correct either. Berkeley is truly a powerhouse and I’m my opinion a top 15 to 20 school, which places it among the elite. For certain degrees it’s better than the Ivy League and computer science immediately comes to mind.

[jakemoseley]

Berkeley is better at creating social mobility. My family income was low. I graduated from Yale and went to graduate school at UCLA. Big public schools have large class sizes. Most of my classes at Yale had fewer than 20 students, many had about ten. Very few undergraduate classes at Berkeley are that small. That makes a difference. Berkeley is super fabulous in many ways. But it’s not the best college in the US. Many small colleges, like Williams, are better for undergraduate students. Class size is important.

[heha]

Yes yes yes! The Ivys… honestly, while the educational quality is fine, you are paying more for the name than the experience. From what I have found, Berkley and other high end public schools (UT, Mizzou, CU Boulder, UIUC, etc.), have departments which are world renowned and many students are dedicated. At the end of the day though, college is what you make of it.

[RichardRjmccoy]

Showing Stanford when talking about Berkeley. Who made this video?

[ToucanMoment]

I think it's too late to say this but.
In my opinion, people go to top tier schools like MIT, Stanford, Harvard and the Ivy League schools because of the networking.
Many big corporations and companies like Google, Facebook...etc seek graduates from these schools and they hold a lot of events in those schools too...

[leoasuming]

Finally the recognition they deserve!!

[sahildis]

just graduated from berkeley and i can say berkeley really prepares grads and if ur ca a resident the price for what your getting can’t be beat. literally all of the people i knew in college either got into prestigious grad programs like medicine or dentistry or each make 6 figure in tech consulting or finance. great school happy to see it get the recognition

[paelie]

Cal's grad schools are definitely top tier along with HYP and the likes. Undergrad's still another story though. At the end, go to which school you like; what matters is that *you* thrive there, which might not happen at all "brand" unis. Obviously money plays into it as well since in-state will be cheaper for Cal.

[teedeww]

In Indonesia, best universities tend to be public schools :)

[ayushapoorva]

Berkeley is like an angel investor for international students I have heard of a lot of instance where they have given full scholarship which is very scarce with big wigs of academia like Harvard and Stanford who keep it limited to really high achievers admitting. Glad to see someone recognizing the ROI part of education.