City Makes the Grade

CCNY secures spot on another "best" public college list  by Laura TaverasIn recent years, as City College has worked to achieve its twin goals – access and excellence – the college has landed on a number of “best” college ranking lists.And last week, CCNY ended up on another one. Business First, a network of business publications, ranked City College among the top 100 four-year public colleges in the country. This year we moved up to number 75 (out of 447) from 91 last year. CCNY recently made the grade as a “valuable return on investment,” according to the new 2016 edition of The Princeton Review’s Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Schools That Give You the Best Bang for Your Tuition Buck, and not long ago was sited as one of the most diverse colleges in the Northeast by U.S. News & World Report.  The University of North Carolina topped the Business First list, followed by University of Michigan, University of Virginia, UCLA and UC-Berkeley. SUNY Binghamton ranked first among colleges in New York state at number 20.How did we rate compared to other four-year CUNY schools? Business First ranked CCNY 3rd among school in the system. Here’s how we stand:39 Baruch College69 Hunter75 CCNY79 Queens College85 Brooklyn College106 Lehman225 York College243 College of Staten IslandThis means that CCNY’s 86% retention and 44 percent 6-year graduation rate is considered stronger than the schools that ranked below it. Similarly, it’s considered to have valuable resources: CCNY spends, $159,628,922 in instructional spending. Rankings also considered tuition, student body, and diversity of faculty. Click here for CCNY’s complete profile.City students appreciate the school’s acknowledgment, but feel like there is more room for growth. “ I am happy that people are recognizing CCNY’s efforts to help our community,” says George Alvarenga, a senior political science major. “But there’s a lot of crazy things happening here with budget cuts –there’s still a long way to go!”