The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education named Baruch College as the top public college for best value in the nation, along with recognizing various other CUNY schools in its several 2021 best colleges lists.

“CUNY combines quality and affordability to provide an accessible onramp to the middle class for its students, and that is as important as ever in these uncertain times,” CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez said. “These rankings are yet another reminder that CUNY offers New Yorkers, regardless of means, the opportunities, resources and advancement they need to reach their personal and professional goals.”

This ranking was decided by considering, “student and staff diversity, student inclusion and the proportion of international students,” according to the press release. This allowed The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education to determine the overall diversity of each school.

The highest accomplishment of the CUNY system in the paper’s rankings was Baruch coming in at No. 1 for the best value public college in the entire United States, followed by City College, which ranked second on the same list.

This ranking in particular was decided by assigning each of the top 250 schools an overall score and then dividing that number by each school’s average net price, according to a CUNY Central press release.

CUNY schools also were recognized for offering a top-rate education to students. The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education ranked all of the public colleges in the northeastern United States on the basis of a top-rate education, and CUNY schools came up eight times on that list.

Out of the 83 schools in the region, City College was ranked 12th, Baruch at 14th, Hunter College at 17th, Queens College at 20th, Brooklyn College at 22nd, Lehman College at 25th, John Jay College at 30th and the College of Staten Island at 49th place.

Also, CUNY campuses made it onto a list of the most affordable four-year colleges in the country based on net tuition. Out of the top six colleges on the list, four were CUNY schools.

Lehman College placed second with a $3,467 semester, Baruch third with a $4,119 semester, Brooklyn College fourth with a $4,211 semester, Hunter sixth with a $4,332 semester, City College ninth with a $4,674 semester, John Jay 11th at $4,745 per semester, Queens College 12th at $4,776 per semester and the College of Staten Island 15th place at $6,761 per semester.

The University was also praised for diversity, with three CUNY schools being among the top 25 most diverse college campuses.

CUNY schools recognized in that category were City College in eighth place, Baruch in 13th place, Hunter in 18th place, Queens College in 28th place, Brooklyn College and John Jay tied for 34th place, Lehman in 48th place and the College of Staten Island in 57th place.

Finally, five CUNY colleges were ranked among the top 400 of the 800 schools evaluated by The Wall Street Journal’s and Times Higher Education’s overall ranking.

These schools were City College at 229, Baruch at 248, Hunter at 276, Queens College at 327 and Brooklyn College at 358.

The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education ranking came after CUNY schools, including Baruch, were recognized by a variety of other listings, including U.S. News & World Report, Business Insider, Money.com, Princeton Review and the Brookings Institution.