California State University, Northridge is the No. 2 public university in California and the No. 12 public university in the nation, according to the Wall Street Journal/College Pulse 2024 Best Colleges in the U.S. ranking.
"In the U.S. News rankings, UCSC placed 82nd among national universities. Drilling down, UCSC landed No. 40 in top public schools, No. 170 in Best Value Schools and No. 90 in best undergrad engineering programs," writes the Editorial Board. "In the WSJ/College Pulse rankings, however, UCSC was . hold on . No. 241, well below state universities such as CSU Monterey Bay (No. 119) and San Jose State (No. 173)."