Washington Monthly names CSUSB as one of its top Hispanic-serving universities in the nation

Cal State San Bernardino, a Hispanic-Serving Institution, is among the nation’s top colleges and universities serving Hispanic students, according to a new ranking by the magazine Washington Monthly.

Collaborating with Excelencia in Education, the publication placed CSUSB at No. 4 on its Best Hispanic-Serving Colleges. In addition, Washington Monthly included the university in its Best Bang for the Buck category, ranking CSUSB at No. 10 in the West.

“Washington Monthly’s recognition reflects our unwavering commitment to intentionally serve our Latino students, giving them the knowledge, tools and skills to succeed here at CSUSB, which puts them on a path that will allow them to reach their full potential, to thrive and to contribute to their families and communities after they graduate,” said university President Tomás D. Morales. “It’s also recognition of the hard work of our faculty and staff, who create an environment where all of our students can excel.”

In adding the new listing, Washington Monthly said that, even as general population declines — and along with it, declines in college enrollment — “Hispanic students made up 80 percent of increases in degree attainment between 2017 and 2022. Numbers of Hispanic high school graduates are projected to increase by 16 percent by 2041.”

The publication said “one might think that colleges would be ferociously competing to recruit these students and get them through school, and that major education publications would be closely tracking their progress. But there are few such measures of excellence out there, and the rankings of Hispanic-serving schools that do exist mostly rely on generalized data, rather than numbers that tell you specifically how Hispanic students are doing. And that’s why this year the Washington Monthly, in collaboration with the non-profit Excelencia in Education, is releasing a comparison of how schools serve this all-important population.”

Washington Monthly said its best colleges for Hispanic students list “combines the social mobility focus of the Monthly’s college rankings with the deep knowledge that Excelencia has built over decades of studying Hispanic performance in higher education. Among many other metrics, the (Washington) D.C.-based non-profit gathers data on the transfer and graduation rates of Hispanic students, which are a good approximation of how well schools serve them.”

Among the metrics Washington Monthly considered was Excelencia’s criteria used in awarding its Seal of Excelencia certification to colleges and universities. The data used for the certification includes information about faculty and staff diversity, descriptions of programming, communications, long-range planning around Hispanic education and other metrics.

CSUSB earned its Seal of Excelencia certification for 2024-27 in November 2024.

Ranked at No. 1 is Cal State Los Angeles, followed by the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley at No. 2 and Texas A&M International at No. 3.

Notable is that, including CSUSB and Cal State LA, eight of the top 20 institution on the Best Hispanic-Serving Colleges list are California State University campuses. Also named are Cal State Dominguez Hills at No. 5, Cal State Fresno at No. 8, Cal State Bakersfield at No. 10, Cal State Northridge at No. 14, Stanislaus State at No. 15, and Cal State Channel Islands at No. 19.

In its Best Bang for the Buck category, which is organized by five regions (Northeast, Southeast, South, Midwest and West), Washington Monthly’s list of schools is ranked according to how well they help non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices.

According to the publication, the list is created by isolating the social mobility metrics from the main rankings of four-year institutions.

Joining CSUSB on this list are CSU campuses Cal State LA at No. 1, Cal State Northridge at No. 2, Cal State Long Beach at No. 4, Cal State Fullerton at No. 5, Cal State Dominguez Hills at No. 7, Sacramento State at No. 9, CSUSB at No. 10, Stanislaus State at No. 11, Cal Poly Pomona at No. 16, and Cal State Bakersfield at No. 17.

To view Washington Monthly’s full methodology, visit its “A Note on Methodology: 4-year Colleges and Universities” webpage