Silicon Valley’s Foothill College wins top ranking in annual survey

Foothill College was named the No. 1 community college in the country and state in a 2026 list by Niche, an education website that uses data from the U.S. Department of Education to rank schools.

This is the second time since 2023 that the Los Altos Hills-based college has received the top national ranking calculated through student loan amounts, alumni earnings, college acceptance data, graduation rates and diversity grades among many other factors.

Foothill College President Kristina Whalen said she believes the institution’s focus on workforce development and hands-on learning allows students to take real “value” from their education.

“We support very impactful experiential learning on this campus in greater frequency and dimension than maybe I’ve seen at other institutions that I’ve worked at, so that students are really engaged in creative project based learning,” she said. “They’re getting connected to internships, research opportunities, working with mentors.”

For instance, the college offers nine allied health programs in dental hygiene, radiologic technology, respiratory therapy, veterinary technology and paramedic services among others. In its medical programs, like radiology technology, students work with local doctors in emergency and hospital rooms to provide imaging.

“The graduates earn a living, a family-sustaining wage, but they also are greedily picked up by employers in the community,” Whalen said.

Foothill also offers a list of apprenticeship opportunities to over 2,000 students in more “traditional” trades like plumbing technology, air conditioning and electrician services among others. While the college doesn’t necessarily offer more apprenticeship programs than other state community colleges, its partnerships with Silicon Valley employers makes the school stand out.

“We put together very strategic and interesting partnerships for industries around Silicon Valley … even a student who is doing a degree in the humanities or English or math or business, has an opportunity to work with Google,” Whalen said.

Working with students before they graduate high school is another way the school sets out to broaden its reach and encourage more students to attend community college, said Associate Vice President of College and Community Relations Simon Pennington.

Foothill has two middle colleges, one in partnership with Mountain View Los Altos and another with Palo Alto, which allow high school students to earn their high school diplomas while earning their college degrees in a less traditional environment.

“​​They feel more engaged with their education, because of our small class sizes, because of the excellence of our programs and our faculty,” he said. “Those students are opting to come here just because of the very nature of us being a community college. We can offer some things that it’s just not possible for high schools to offer.”

Recently, Foothill has also seen more Palo Alto and Mountain View students enrolling straight out of high school, Pennington said. He attributes these growing numbers to more affordable education rates — 50% of Foothill students attend school for free — and extensive transfer programs.

Foothill has transfer guarantees with six UCs and receives preferential transfer opportunities with UCLA and UC Berkeley, Pennington said.

“I think a lot of students are understanding that they can save money,” he said. “They can get a better education for the first two years, because they’re not in classes of 600 or 700, they’re in classes of 24 or 25. They can get excellent education, save money, and when they do make it to a UC or CSU or a private school, they’re better prepared to excel.”

Aside from educational opportunities, Foothill also aims to create opportunities for students to engage. In March the college voted to purchase an off-campus apartment for student housing and the institution has over 70 clubs.

“People who attend here feel a sense of care, community, a sense of family,” Whalen said.

This story originally appeared in Palo Alto Weekly. Lisa Moreno is a reporter at Palo Alto Online.