The ranking and review site Niche ranks Cal State Fullerton as the No. 2 Best Value Four-Year, Public College and No. 6 Best Value College in the Los Angeles Area in its 2026 Best Colleges in America rankings.
The site also ranks CSUF as:
- No. 10 Best College Athletics in California
- No. 12 Best Value College in California
- No. 13 Top Public University in California
- No. 13 Best Big College in California
In specific areas of study, the university is recognized as:
- No. 14 Best College of Communications in California
- No. 16 Best College for Education in California
- No 18 Best College for Nursing in California
Niche’s Best Colleges ranking methodology considers academic, admissions, financial and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education, in addition to reviews from students and alumni.
The Niche ranking focuses mostly on factors related to academics, such as acceptance rate, quality of professors, as well as student and alumni surveys regarding academics at the school. The ranking also focuses on factors that show value, like average loan amount, alumni earnings and student surveys about value.
This year, Niche updated its review validation process to consider user-generated content, which Niche says allows the site to more fairly and accurately represent feedback from a diverse group of users.