Lake Land College has been recognized as the best in the country when it comes to student success! Based here in Mattoon, Lake Land was named the number one community college in the nation for education outcomes in WalletHub’s ‘2026 Best & Worst Community Colleges’ study, which took into account 613 community colleges nationwide.
The top ranking in this metric is directly tied to Lake Land’s performance across several “student success metrics” including: first-year retention rate, graduation rate, transfer rate, and student-faculty ratio.
The study also named Lake Land as the top community college in Illinois, ranking it first among 30 colleges statewide. That overall ranking factored in two additional categories, which were cost and financing, and career outcomes, using several methods to measure value, quality, and long-term student success.
Combined with its top spot in Illinois, Lake Land College landed at 62nd overall nationally, placing it in the top 10% of community colleges in the entire country.
Lake Land College President Josh Bullock said the results reflect the college’s commitment to providing high-quality, affordable, and accessible education. He credited the college’s board, faculty, and staff for the leadership and dedication that helped drive these results, saying the recognition only motivates the college to keep improving for its students and surrounding communities.
The WalletHub rankings add to a growing list of national honors for Lake Land, which has also been named one of the nation’s top community colleges by the ‘Aspen Institute College Excellence Program.’ Since 2013, Lake Land has made their cut a total of seven times. For the full WalletHub study, visit – wallethub.com/edu/e/best-worst-community-colleges/15076, and for more information about Lake Land College, you can find that at lakelandcollege.edu.
