Stanford and UC Berkeley often grab the spotlight, but one of the Bay Area’s top colleges has largely remained unnoticed until this year.

The Wall Street Journal recently ranked San Jose State University fourth on its list of the best public universities in the country and 16th overall. Last year, the university ranked much lower at 173.

Getting a high ranking in the Wall Street Journal’s top 500 colleges and universities list requires more than just academic excellence. Affordability and employability play significant roles. These factors helped San Jose State climb to 16th place this year, behind Stanford in third and UC Berkeley in eighth. Meanwhile, Santa Clara University placed 38th.

“We’ve kept the overall cost of education low for our students,” said Vincent Del Casino, SJSU’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. According to the Wall Street Journal, the average net cost to attend San Jose State is under $15,000 per year. The paper also found that graduates typically take about a year and three months to pay off their education, based on salary data.

“The big companies—Apple, Google, Nvidia, Kaiser, the county, the city. More often than not, we have well over 1,000 alumni in those organizations,” Del Casino said.

The university’s computer science program, which recently added tracks in linguistics and geology, is among the most competitive to enter, attracting students from out of state and around the globe, according to the provost.

Yassine Djeddi, a transfer student from Algeria studying computer science, said he had other options when choosing a college, but San Jose State made the most sense for his academic interests and career goals.

“They provide everything you need, like study resources, materials, financial aid, and more. They even help with internships, and that’s my goal,” he said.