FIU scores high marks in Wall Street Journal rankings

In the past two weeks, FIU has earned the No.1 spot in Florida in two national rankings.

FIU is the highest ranked among all universities–public or private–in Florida in the Wall Street Journal’s America’s Best Colleges 2025 rankings, coming in at No. 31 in the United States among public universities and 77 among all universities.

Additionally, this year the university improved its performance in two critically important measures.

FIU ranks No. 6 among all universities, public or private, in social mobility.

FIU ranks No. 1 in the nation among public universities and No. 3 overall in student experience.

Two weeks ago, Washington Monthly ranked FIU among the top three public universities in the nation and No. 1 in Florida in its annual College Guide and Rankings, which recognizes universities for both research excellence and their efforts to ensure the success of all students.

“This ranking season has cemented our position among the top 50 universities in the nation,” said President Kenneth A. Jessell. “We are proud of the work our students, faculty, staff and alumni have put into making FIU a leading American public university that shines in particular subcategories that are important to us.”

The “student experience” measure in the Wall Street Journal considers the learning environment, based on feedback from students. It measures how happy they are with their education, their professors and their opportunities to prepare for a career.

The “social mobility” measure rewards universities that take in the highest proportion of students coming from lower-income families, while maintaining high graduation rates and having a positive impact on graduate salaries and minimizing the costs of attending the college.

These rankings come on the heels of another stellar recognition: The Princeton Review last month put FIU at No. 34 on its list of “best value” schools, which ranks institutions based on a student’s return on investment.