CCNY is one of the top social mobility drivers in the nation, U.S. News & World Report confirms.
The City College of New York’s excellence for social mobility continues to earn recognition nationally. In the 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings published today, CCNY is ranked #10 for social mobility in the National Universities category.
Overall, CCNY is ranked #121 out of 436 National Universities. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence. Click here to read how U.S. News ranks schools.
CCNY earned multiple spots on the badge-eligible list of 2025 Best Colleges because of its other high rankings:
• Top Public Schools #61;
• Best Colleges for Veterans #79;
• Undergraduate Engineering Programs (Doctorate) # 113;
• 2025 Best Value Schools # 117;
• Best Undergraduate Psychology #146;
• Best Undergraduate Computer Science #177; and
• Best Undergraduate Economic Program # 198
The U.S. News rankings are the latest validation of the immense benefits of a CCNY education. Recently, the education research organization Degree Choices placed The City College #1 in Public Schools and #5 in National Universities in its Best Colleges 2025 Rankings.
In its 2025 edition of The Best 390 Colleges annual college guide, The Princeton Review had CCNY at #18 on its Top 20 Best Schools for Making an Impact in the public schools category.
And the Wall Street Journal/College Pulse 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. ranks CCNY #4 in Best Value. These rankings rate the top 500 universities in the country and were developed in collaboration with WSJ’s research partners College Pulse and Statista.
In hard numbers, this all can be quantified by the recent study by labor analytics firm Lightcast pegging at $3.2 billion CCNY’s economic impact on 10 counties in the New York region in fiscal year 2021-22.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Lightcast puts at $3.2 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.
Jay Mwamba
p: 917.892.0374
e:
jmwamba@ccny.cuny.edu