The Wall Street Journal has released its annual college rankings, and The Master’s University was once again rated among the top schools nationwide.
TMU was No. 2 in the U.S. in the most-likely-to-recommend category, No. 4 for community and social life, and No. 11 for career preparation.
The rankings included nearly 600 public and private schools across the country and were based on the surveys of roughly 120,000 college students and recent graduates. Stanford University was ranked as the top school overall.
This comes one year after TMU was ranked No. 1 nationally for “Character Development,” a category not surveyed this year.
TMU has been in the top five for the “Recommendation” category each of the past three years. This ranking measures how likely a school’s students and recent alums are to recommend their institution and whether they’d enroll there again if they could make the decision over.
TMU graduate Josephine Lee (’24) highlighted spiritual growth at TMU as a key reason for this high ranking.
“I think TMU has been the greatest factor God has used to grow me as a young adult,” she said. “When I first came I was really spiritually confused. But my professors, coworkers, peers, just poured into me. They kept me accountable and pushed me forward. Now I’m amazed at just how much God has convicted and strengthened me. So if you’re not afraid to grow in a serious way, this is the place.”
This is also the third straight year TMU was among the top 15 schools nationwide for career preparation.
Nate Dougherty, who leads TMU’s Office of Career Services, explains how the University approaches career prep: “We want to serve our students well by providing career advising, professional experiences, and career opportunities so that they receive a return on their investment in a degree from TMU.
“But more importantly, we want to help our students understand that their calling as Christians shapes and informs their calling as professionals.”
The high ranking in “Community and Social Life” speaks to the unity of biblical convictions on campus, according to TMU senior Andrew Truong.
“The TMU community is just so uplifting and encouraging,” he said, “because everyone believes the same thing, and they all want to behave and speak in a way that honors Christ. That’s something that definitely unifies us and makes it such a tight community, because everywhere you go, whoever you talk to, you know that you can have a godly conversation.”
TMU junior Kaylani Seto has seen this play out in friendships on campus.
“It’s been super sweet making friends here,” she said. “You become friends with people you probably wouldn’t talk to otherwise. Because everyone has a common denominator, which is Christ, it’s super easy to get along with them.”
The Wall Street Journal has given similarly complimentary rankings to TMU in the past, ranking the University as the #1 “right choice” university in 2017 and 2018, as well as in the top two “most inspirational schools” in 2017.
Applications for fall 2026 at TMU are now open. Students who apply by Nov. 1 qualify for a $1,000 Early Admission Scholarship. Learn more and start your application at masters.edu/apply.
