An educational institution in the Bronx recently gained recognition on a national level, after TIME magazine recently published a list of the country’s most prestigious educational institutions.
TIME ranked CUNY’s Lehman College No. 36 on its “America’s Best Colleges of 2026-2027” inaugural edition — which features a list of the 100 best educational institutions in the country according to the publication.
Each ranked college was scored in three categories — student outcomes, learning environment and attractiveness to students, along with an overall final rating.
Lehman College received a final rating of 84.34, which included a score of 91.04 for student outcomes. Student outcomes refer to the lasting effects of knowledge, skills, behaviors and academic results achieved by students at the end of a course program or educational system.
TIME partnered with German data research platform Statista to properly highlight educational institutions in the U.S. which provide the best financial value for college students.
The list was compiled based on College ROI, or Return on Investment — a measurement used to determine the net value of a college degree, with tuition, fees, living costs, debt and time out of the workforce all factored into the equation.
Educational institutions “with historically strong STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs — and pipelines into high-paying tech jobs” were also ranked high on the list, according to the methodology of how TIME and Statista determined the top colleges.
“This recognition highlights the strength of our academic programs and supports our efforts to expand opportunities for our students and faculty,” Lehman College president Fernando Delgado said in response to the school’s No. 36 national ranking by TIME.
Lehman College, located in Kingsbridge Heights on a 37-acre campus, was founded in 1931 as Hunter College’s Bronx campus before it was established as an independent senior college within the CUNY public university system.
In total, eight CUNY senior colleges were recognized in TIME’s “America’s Best Colleges of 2026-2027” inaugural edition list.
“Attending a CUNY college is an investment that pays dividends for our students once they graduate and enter their careers,” CUNY chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez said in a statement. “As we begin a new academic year and approach the start of college application season, we hope this recognition instills pride in the CUNY community and inspires prospective students to join us.”
Lehman College, which offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees along with a selection of certificate programs in the liberal arts, sciences and skill-based jobs, currently has an undergraduate student body of over 11,000 students along with more than 1,700 enrolled graduate students, according to the Lehman College website.
“It’s a testament to the hard work all our staff and faculty put in everyday and the determination of our students to make a better life for themselves and their community,” Delgado added.
