The state of California holds six of the top 20 community colleges in the United States, according to a ranking done by Wallethub, a finance advice company earlier this month.
“The magic of community colleges is that they can be a gateway to so many opportunities, as for some students, they provide local access to certificates and training in trades and technical careers. For others, they provide lower-cost entry points to four-year degrees and beyond,” said Professor Jenniffer L. Steele of American University.
That study revealed that all three schools in the Riverside Community College District (RCCD) made the top hundred on the list of best community colleges nationwide and the top 20 for the state of California, Riverside City College (RCC), Norco College (Norco), and Moreno Valley College (MVC).
On both a statewide and national scale, Wallethub ranked the schools by three demographics, those being cost and financing (which includes things such as tuition, faculty salary, and availability of student employment), Education Outcomes (which includes factors such as graduation rates, student to faculty ratio & transfer rates) and Career outcomes (student loan default rate, median salary after graduating, and average income after graduating)
On a nationwide scale, MVC was the highest ranking of the three RCCD schools as it came in 12th in the nation, receiving a total score of 66.48 out of 100 and receiving a ranking of 73/653 for cost and financing, 303/653 in terms of education outcomes, and tying with Norco, Guttman Community College in New York City, NY and Columbia Gorge Community College in Northwestern Oregon for 1st out of 651 schools in Career outcomes.
Norco would rank second highest for RCCD, coming in 28th in the nation, receiving a total score of 65.35, with a ranking of 118th for cost and financing, 301st in terms of education outcomes, and tying with MVC. RCC, however, would rank last for RCCD nationwide, as it would come in 75th in the nation, receiving a total score of 63.16, receiving a ranking of 61st for cost and financing, 303/653 in terms of education outcomes, and 316th for career outcomes.
In terms of statewide, the three RCCD colleges would do better as Wallethub would simplify the process for California’s schools and combine the three factors into one simple score ranked out of 100 and rank based on these scales. MVC would still rank the highest for RCCD and the state, coming in 3rd in the state of California, receiving a total score of 66.48. Norco would come in 7th, with a total score of 65.35 and RCC would come in 16th with a total score of 63.16.
