Harvey Mudd Ranks No. 3 in TIME’s Best Colleges List

Harvey Mudd College ranked No. 3 nationally in TIME magazine’s inaugural America’s Best Colleges of 2026–2027, a new ranking that recognizes 500 colleges and universities for student outcomes, learning environment and attractiveness to prospective students.

TIME partnered with data research firm Statista to develop the ranking and placed its greatest emphasis on student outcomes. Harvey Mudd came in third, with Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the top two spots and Princeton University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and California Institute of Technology rounding out the top six respectively.

Student outcomes account for 75% of each institution’s overall score and include graduates’ earnings, graduation rates and return on education. Harvey Mudd consistently ranks among the nation’s top colleges and universities for return on investment, often placing at the top or in the top three for both early career salaries and overall ROI.

Learning environment accounts for 15% of the score and considers student-to-faculty ratio, institutional spending per student and diversity among students and faculty. The remaining 10% measures what TIME and Statista call “attractiveness,” based on admission and enrollment yield rates. The analysis draws primarily from federal data collected through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard.

In its rankings article, TIME highlighted Harvey Mudd’s distinctive approach to STEM education, noting that the College combines rigorous study in engineering, science and mathematics with the humanities, social sciences and the arts to prepare students to understand the impact of their work on society.

“We hear from the graduate programs that admit our students and from the companies that hire them that [Mudd graduates] are often the translators in their office because they can do the very high-level technical conversations that you would expect, but they also know how to translate that to people who may not have that same background,” Thyra Briggs, vice president for admission and financial aid, told TIME.

TIME cited the College’s Clinic Program as another example of its approach to preparing students for life after graduation. Through Clinic, teams of students work with sponsoring organizations on real-world technical problems, gaining professional experience while completing their undergraduate education.