La Sierra University maintained its robust status in the 2025 Best Colleges rankings released on Sept. 24, 2024 by U.S. News & World Report, bettering its placement for "Best Value" and retaining its position as No. 4 within 15 western states for "Social Mobility," an indicator of a university’s ability to enroll and graduate disadvantaged students.

“We are delighted with La Sierra’s strong standing in the Best Colleges 2025 rankings published by U.S. News and World Report,” said La Sierra University president Christon Arthur. “Specifically, the university’s continued move upward in the Best Value ranking and our No. 4 position in the western region of the United States for Social Mobility speaks of the dedication on the part of our faculty and staff to truly live out our mission of serving others and to create a safe, supportive space for students in which they can excel beyond their expectations.” 

As with last year’s Best Colleges rankings, La Sierra University again took the No. 4 spot for Social Mobility, this year on a list of 115 schools around the western region. Cal State Monterey Bay ranked No. 1 in the category, with Mount Saint Mary’s and Cal State Stanislaus landing respectively in No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Cal State Channel Islands and Cal State Los Angeles tied at No. 5 following La Sierra University. 

In the Best Value category, La Sierra University placed No. 17 out of a list of 42 schools, scoring two points better than last year’s ranking. The category considers a school’s 2025 general ranking as a measure of its quality and factors in “the 2023-2024 net cost of attendance for an out-of-state student who received the average level of need-based financial aid,” according to the Best Colleges report. 

La Sierra University in the Regional Universities West general category for Best Colleges ranked No. 43 out of 118 universities, tying for the spot with Northwest University in Washington, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Vanguard University of Southern California. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo landed at No. 1 for Regional Universities West. Last year, La Sierra University placed at No. 41 in the general rankings for the region. 

U.S. News ranked nearly 1,500 four-year bachelor's degree-granting institutions in the United States, grouped within 10 distinct overall rankings where colleges and universities were compared with schools that shared their academic mission, according to a report on its methodology. Regional universities offer a wide range of undergraduate programs and some master’s programs along with a few doctoral programs. Overall, 17 ranking factors are considered such as graduation rates, first-year retention rates, and Pell graduation and performance rates. 

U.S. News notes that acceptance rates, yield and alumni giving are among several factors that have been eliminated from the ranking formulas.