1. University of California, Berkeley

UC Berkeley is well-known for its high academic standards and campus diversity, with no racial or ethnic group making a majority. It is the top- ranked school by U.S. News & World Report using our criteria, tied at eleventh place of all national universities, earning an overall score of 88 (Harvard and Princeton universities score 100). Berkeley faculty includes eight Nobel Laureates, a Poet Laureate emeritus and 132 Guggenheim Fellows. Hispanics make up fourteen percent of the undergraduate population, though this fall's registered freshmen are less diverse and only 7.4 percent Hispanic. The 1997-98 school year has 21,358 undergraduates. It is one of twenty top schools for Hispanics, according to MEMEX Press, using our criteria. Hispanic Magazine/Chevrolet guide to top schools ranks it sixteenth. Tuition is $3,956 for state residents, making it a bargain for Californians, but jumps to $12,940 for non-residents.

2. University of Texas, Austin

Only one school made everyone's list, given our criteria, and that's the University of Texas at Austin; 14.2 percent of the student population of 36,861 is Hispanic. Tuition and fees are $2,842 per year for Texas residents and $8,406 for non-residents: A good deal for one of this country's top-rated universities. UT Austin is listed at No. 23 by Hispanic Magazine/Chevrolet. Money magazine puts it at No. 8 in its top 100 "elite values in college education." MEMEX returns twenty universities given the criteria of high Hispanic representation, typical or low tuition, and typical or high scholarly reputation. UT Austin is on that list. U.S. News & World Report places UT Austin in tier two among national universities, with a reputation score of 3.5 (4.0 being best).

3. University of California, Los Angeles

Like Berkeley, UCLA is among MEMEX's top affordable schools for Hispanics. For non-Californians, its out-of-state tuition is prohibitive: $13,437 for the 1998-99 school year. In-state tuition, however, is a forgiving $3,863 a year. UCLA's faculty includes three Nobel Laureates and more than 300 Fulbright Scholarship winners. In the past ten years, more than 260 UCLA scholars have been awarded Guggenheim Fellowships. U.S. News & World Report has it tied at thirteenth among national universities with an overall score of 85 out of 100. Among the undergraduate class of 23,619, an impressive 16.2 percent is Hispanic.

4. University of California, San Diego

MEMEX also has UCSD on its list, and the school weighs in on U.S. News & World Report's list at sixteenth among national universities with an overall score of 81. It's faculty boasts six Nobel Laureates. UCSD's undergraduate population is 14,623, including an 11.1 percent Hispanic population, with no group representing a majority. In 1996, 95 percent of entering freshmen graduated in the top ten percent of their high school class, with an average GPA of 3.90.

5. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obisbo

Tied at eighth place among Western universities by U.S. News & World Report with a score of 78.0, Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo charges $2,328 tuition a year or $8,232 for non-residents. Cal Poly reports a minority ethnic population of 31 percent of its 16,735 students. In the 1996-97 school year, there were 15,947 students, fourteen percent of whom were Hispanic.

6. University of California, Irvine

UC Irvine is tied for 21st by U.S. News & World Report among national universities, with a score of 75.0, and makes the MEMEX list. It has a diverse student profile, with an 11.6 percent Hispanic population. In 1995, UCI became the first public university whose faculty won two Nobel Prizes in two different fields in the same year: Dr. Frederick Reines in physics and Dr. Sherwood Rowland in chemistry. In-state tuition is $4,829.50 per year and non-resident tuition is $12,528.50.

7. University of California, Davis

UC Davis shares 21st place and a 75.0 score with Irvine, and makes the MEMEX list. Of 19,132 undergraduates last year, 10.4 percent were Hispanic. Of all incoming freshmen, 95 percent rank in the top 10 percent of their high school classes; in fall 1994, their average GPA was 3.73. Annual tuition is $4,225 and for non-residents, $8,394.

8. University of California, Santa Barbara

UCSB is 31st among national universities with an overall score of 72, according to U.S. News & World Report, and makes the MEMEX list. Its faculty includes fellows of the National Endowment for the Humanities, recipients of the National Medal of Science, and members of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering. California residents will pay $4,126 annually in tuition and fees, non-residents, $13,110. Of 16,718 students last year, 13.3 percent were Hispanic; this fall's freshman class is more diverse with 14.8 percent being Hispanic.

9. California State University, Humboldt

U.S. News & World Report ranks Humboldt State in the first tier of Western universities. Humboldt State has a reputation score of 2.4. It is one of the few small institutions among our top fifteen schools, with an undergraduate class of 6,484, 8.3 percent of which is Hispanic. Residents pay $1,923 for a nine-month school year, while non-residents will pay $5,613 based on a fifteen-unit load. Humboldt students record the highest passing scores among the 22-campus Cal State University system on the CBEST (the California Basic Educational Skills Test). The CBEST measures reading, mathematics skills and expository writing and is required of new teachers, administrators, counselors, psychologists and librarians.

10. California State University, Fresno

CSU Fresno leads our top fifteen list in this category: 4,068 of 12,583 undergraduates are Hispanic, or an astonishing 32.3 percent. It is ranked in the first tier of Western Universities by U.S. News & World Report with a reputation score of 2.4. In-state tuition and fees are $1,806 and the cost to non-residents is $7,380 per year.

11. University of Florida

MEMEX includes this institution on its list, while U.S. News & World Report ranks it in the second tier with a reputation score of 3.0 out of 4.0. Of approximately 30,800 undergraduates, some 11.6 percent are Hispanic. Tuition is $1,926 for Florida residents and $7,843 for non-residents.

12. Texas A&M University, College Station

Texas A&M's faculty boasts two Nobel Prize recipients and a National Medal of Science winner, six members of the National Academy of Sciences and thirteen members of the National Academy of Engineering. It is ranked in tier two by U.S. News & World Report with a reputation score of 2.9 out of 4.0. Princeton Review, however, names it ninth among schools where class discussion is "rare." MEMEX Press lists it among twenty affordable institutions for Hispanics. Texas residents will pay about $2,805 annually in tuition and fees, depending on major, and non-residents will pay $9,225. Out of 33,945 undergraduates in the 1997-98 school year, ten percent are Hispanic.

13. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Cal Poly Pomona has a large Hispanic representation of 22 percent of its 17,246 undergraduate students. U.S. News & World Report places Cal Poly Pomona in tier two of Western Universities, with a reputation score of 2.9 out of 4.0. Tuition for residents is $2,524 per year and $12,364 for non-residents, based on a fifteen-unit load.

14. University of Arizona

This institution reports an undergraduate class of 33,504 in 1996, 12.7 percent of which was Hispanic. In-state tuition is $1,988 and non-resident annual tuition is $8,640. U.S. News & World Report puts it in its second tier, with a reputation score of 3.0 out of 4.0, and ranks it as the number-one institution for hydrogeologists. The U of Arizona, however, makes Princeton Review's list of "Long Lines and Red Tape" as sixth worst. It is ranked among the universities chosen by MEMEX Press using our criteria.

15. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

This specialty school is not ranked by U.S. News & World Report, except it is listed as fourth best in the nation for hydrogeologists. Enrollment is 1,392 with a large Hispanic representation of nineteen percent. Tuition at New Mexico Tech is $2,073 annually, $6,611 for non-residents. Many of New Mexico Tech's research organizations are world leaders in their fields, most notably Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center, Petroleum Recovery Research Center, and New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources.

A number of other schools fall under our criteria for affordability, Hispanic representation and positive academic reputation. They are, by state and alphabetically:

Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University; California State Universities at Chico, Sacramento, Sonoma, Stanislaus and Bakersfield, University of California, Riverside and Santa Cruz; Adams State College, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Denver; Florida Atlantic University, University of South Florida; Kean College of New Jersey; University of New Mexico, College of the Southwest [no known Web site; school is in Hobbs, NM], Eastern New Mexico University; CUNY at City College, Hunter College, Baruch College and Lehman College; Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, Angelo State University, Southwest Texas State University, Texas Tech University, Texas Woman's University, University of Houston, and West Texas A&M University.

Editor's Note: U.S. News & World Report lists some universities as tied for first, then others as tied for third, etc. Saludos Hispanos has renumbered such rankings so no place is skipped, and thus Duke and Yale are tied for second, and so on.

U.S. News & World Report ranks the top 25, then tier one or 26th through 50th, tier two, tier three and tier four schools.

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