Cal State LA ranked No. 1 as best Hispanic-serving College in the nation

Recently, California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), a public university located in the heart of Los Angeles and founded in 1947, was recognized as one of the nation's top universities.  

CSULA ranked among the top universities in the Washington Monthly 2025 magazine's annual college ranking, which acknowledges several institutions based on their academic performance, student life and resources offered.  

CSULA ranked the nation’s No. 1 four-year institution in the “Best Hispanic-Serving Colleges” category. This category combines the social mobility focus of the colleges' monthly rankings and decades of analyzing Hispanic achievement in higher education. 

As stated by the magazine, CSULA, the regional university in East L.A., is “a powerful engine of social mobility, with a low net price of $4,551 (fourth of the 1,421 schools in our overall rankings). The school is more than three-quarters Hispanic and it serves those students well: They graduate at close to the same rate as the general population.” 

Blanca Martinez-Navarro, CSULA’s associate vice president for student life and dean of students, told CALÓ News it was an honor for the university to receive such recognitions. 

“CSULA has been deeply proud of holding the Hispanic Serving Institution label for over three decades,” Martinez-Navarro said. “It speaks to our presence and visibility to a very large community, a very visible community and a very impactful community for the City of L.A.”

The U.S. Department of Education officially recognized the university as a Hispanic-Serving Institution in 1989, which is achieved by having a student body that is 25% or more Latino. The university has a predominantly Latino student body, with recent data showing that the Hispanic or Latino student demographic is around 74-75%.

In the magazine’s 2025 college guide and rankings, CSULA also earned the number one spot on the West Coast for “Best Bang for the Buck,” a category that highlights colleges and universities offering students the greatest opportunity to earn marketable degrees at affordable prices.   

“These rankings affirm what we have long known—that our university empowers dreams and transforms lives,” Berenecea Johnson Eanes, president of CSULA, said. “The dedication of our excellent faculty and staff to our students’ success is why we are, and why we remain No. 1 in changing trajectories for individuals, families and communities.”  

Johnson Eanes was appointed by the CSU Board of Trustees to serve as CSULA president last year. Her tenure began January 8, 2024, making her the university’s ninth president and the first woman to serve in the position. “More significantly, she is the first woman of color to hold this role, which is just one more factor contributing to CSULA’s continued prominence in our community,” Martinez-Navarro said. 

In addition, the university, which serves more than 22,000 students and has more than 270,000 alumni, was ranked No. 2 in the “Best Master’s Universities” category and No. 4 in the U.S. in the “Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars” category. 

Martinez-Navarro said that more than higher education, the university has also served as a community hub and a space for civic engagement, especially in a time when ICE raids have been at an all-time high around the university's neighboring communities, affecting not just the local economy but also many of their students’ families. 

“We are an institution that acknowledges what our city feels; what happens in the city, in our local county and in the state is also felt on our campus. Our Associate Student Inc., which is our student government, is really active in ensuring that our students are civically engaged,” she told CALÓ News. “As an institution, we ensure that we provide the type of resources and support that our student body needs and can benefit from, especially in the current climate. Our students are oftentimes students carrying a number of different identities and we want to honor all of them.”

To read the full list of Washington Monthly’s annual college guide and rankings, click here.