From the President
Two Recent Rankings for De Anza
Aug. 15, 2025
Dear De Anza College Community,
I hope that you are continuing to enjoy your summer. As we prepare to settle into the weekend, I wanted to let you know about two studies that have ranked De Anza College highly earlier this week.
The first is a report from the College Futures Foundation that ranks the college 18th among 327 state community and career colleges in return on investment. The study focused on how long it takes students to recover their out-of-pocket costs, with those at De Anza and other top-performing colleges recouping those costs within six months. Eloy Ortiz Oakley, the president of the foundation and former chancellor of California Community Colleges, wrote that "This distinction reflects [De Anza's] dedication to affordability, learner-centered support, and alignment with workforce opportunity. It also sets an example for what’s possible when institutions are truly focused on outcomes that matter."
Of the top 25 institutions, 23 were California Community Colleges — no surprise to those of us who work in the system. The study, conducted in partnership with research and consulting agency The HEA Group, found that public colleges are much more likely to offer a significant return on investment (or ROI) than were private nonprofit or for-profit institutions, with 40% of public colleges providing students the opportunity to recoup costs within a year. Only 5% of private institutions can claim the same.
Meanwhile, a study from personal finance company WalletHub named De Anza as the fifth top community college in the nation. Using data from the 2024-25 academic year, the company reviewed cost and financing, education outcomes and career outcomes in developing its rankings.
These are just two in a long list of local, regional and national accolades for De Anza College over many years, and among the reasons I was proud to join the college in January. Congratulations to all of you for your work. I'm excited about all we will continue to do, and look forward to discussing this on College Opening Day on Sept. 18. Look for more information, coming soon.
Sincerely,
Omar
Omar Torres, Ed.D.
President, De Anza College