Claremont McKenna College (CMC) and Pomona College tied for third place in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 Best National Liberal Arts Colleges ranking released on Sept. 10, an increase from their joint seventh place spot last year. Harvey Mudd College also made its way into the top 10, ranking eighth.
The rankings come after a change in how U.S. News measures student outcomes after graduation. The publication considered “earnings by major” for the first time this year, a shift that placed greater emphasis on measurable post-graduate outcomes.
Students and staff at the three colleges pointed to student success emerging from a broader pool of resources, including academic support, peer mentorship, experiential learning and traditional career preparation, as reasons for their jump in the rankings.
CMC Senior Assistant Dean of Students for Academic Success Matt Layman said the rankings reflect “a strong network of resources that support students through their CMC experience,” including the Dean of Students (DOS) Office and Soll Center for Student Opportunity.
“Through a self-authorship approach, staff and trained student leaders help students explore majors, select courses, and build learning habits that serve them at CMC and beyond,” Layman wrote in a statement to TSL.
Charlotte Jordan CM ’27 said the college’s ranking reflects the resources it provides its students to be prepared for the future.
“[CMC’s] biggest strength is that it really does prepare you to leave here,” Jordan said. “The amount of money they put into students so that [they] can travel, do unpaid internships — I think that’s huge.”
A Pomona spokesperson said the rankings reflect the college’s “commitment to an affordable and accessible higher education,” citing its third place ranking in U.S. News’ ranking of the “best value” liberal arts colleges.
Hazel Raja, associate dean and senior director of Pomona’s Career Development Office (CDO), said the office works with students pursuing internships, employment, graduate school and fellowships while encouraging them to consider careers beyond those directly associated with their majors.
“Rather than encouraging students to focus only on careers connected to their major, we help them understand the many paths a liberal arts education can open,” she said.
Raja said one-on-one career advising remains one of the office’s most frequently used resources. The office has recently focused on strengthening alumni engagement and recruiting guidance amid the rise of generative artificial intelligence, aiming to better assist students with career exploration.
Quincy Qu PO ’29, a peer advisor at Pomona’s CDO and a columnist at TSL, explained how one-on-one advising allows students to explore their interests and ask questions about potential career paths.
“That really gives you the personal space to ask all the questions you need,” Qu said.
She said résumé tailoring is one of the most common forms of support peer advisors provide. They also direct students to career assessments and connect them with alumni, helping students explore potential career paths and find contacts in fields that interest them.
At Mudd, Career Services Director Shannon Braun said employers have increasingly focused on “skills-based hiring,” and that students need to know how to apply the knowledge they learn in the classroom.
“Experiential learning is imperative for gaining those skills,” Braun said.
Mudd’s Career Services office reported 862 advising appointments, 155 employer and graduate-school engagements and contact with 51% of HMC’s student body in the 2025-26 academic year. Braun said the office wants to increase one-on-one advising and has begun holding office hours in academic departments whose students use the office’s resources less frequently.
For many community members, the 2027 rankings reaffirm their schools’ positions within the top tier of American liberal arts institutions. The consortium continues to draw national attention for academic quality, student outcomes and the distinct model of undergraduate education.