For the first time, TIME and Statista are recognizing America’s Best Community Colleges—the top community colleges offering associate degree programs in the U.S. Here’s how the list was decided.
Methodology
To be eligible for the list, a community college must fulfill the following requirements:
-
Offers two-year degree programs
-
Associate’s college
-
Public institution
-
Located in the 50 states or Washington, D.C.
-
Enrolls more than 100 students
-
Financially solvent
-
Officially accredited
The list is based on an extensive Key Performance Indicator (KPI) analysis, focusing on five dimensions:
-
Student Success Rate: Graduation plus transfer rate compared to the estimation, and the absolute graduation plus transfer rate.
-
Graduates’ Earnings: Median income 6, 8, and 10 years post-enrollment compared to the estimation, and the absolute median income.
-
Return on Investment: Value added to the average graduate’s salary when compared to income of the average high school graduate, expressed relative to the cost of attendance.
-
Diversity: Simpson diversity index of student body and faculty ethnicity, plus share of students with disability.
-
Campus Resources: Student-faculty ratio and core expenditure per student.
Data on the community colleges’ performance was collected through publicly available sources like IPEDS and College Scorecard. The data was reviewed on its validity to project student outcomes. Based on the results, a score for all five dimensions was calculated for each community college.
The final score was calculated as follows: 30% x Student Success Rate + 30% x Graduates’ Earnings + 20% x Return on Investment + 10% x Diversity + 10% x Campus Resources = final score
All community colleges were benchmarked against one another using the final score. The 250 best-performing community colleges were included in the final list and are listed alphabetically within each state.
Disclaimer: The selection of the community colleges and the definition of the evaluation criteria were based on independent journalistic criteria of TIME and Statista. The evaluation was carried out by the statistics and market research company Statista. TIME and Statista make no claim to the completeness of the community colleges examined. The list only includes community colleges that qualify according to the criteria described in this document. A position in the list is a positive recognition based on research of publicly available data sources at the time. In addition, events after September 17, 2026, were not considered in the analysis. As such, the results of this list should not be used as the sole source of information for future deliberations. The information provided through this list should rather be considered in conjunction with other available information about a community college. The quality of community colleges that are not included in the list is not disputed.
The post How TIME and Statista Determined America’s Best Community Colleges of 2027 appeared first on TIME.
