STOCKTON -- San Joaquin Delta College has been named the best community college in California and the fourth-best in the nation by personal finance website WalletHub, news that drives home the College's low cost and high quality.

WalletHub's analysis ranked more than 700 community colleges based on 19 key indicators.

“We thank WalletHub for their work in identifying the best colleges in the nation and for recognizing Delta College among those best colleges," said Dr. Omid Pourzanjani, Delta's superintendent/president. "Delta College truly embodies the spirit of ‘having the whole village support each student,’ and we are continually looking for ways to improve our educational quality, processes and practices.”

WalletHub identified value as a key consideration in its rankings. With tuition rates rising, many would-be students are unable to afford a university education.

"Students who earn their general-education credits at a community college before transferring to an in-state public four-year university can potentially save a lot of money," WalletHub noted.

Indeed, most students at Delta qualify for fee waivers and pay no tuition at all.

Community colleges in general also provide more flexible schedules, smaller class sizes and rigorous coursework, WalletHub found. The publication's rankings take into account a wide range of factors from fees to student-faculty ratios and graduation rates.

Click here for more details on the WalletHub analysis. Click here for more information about Delta College. Register today for Fall Semester, which begins on Monday, Aug. 26.