University of Scranton Among MONEY’s Best College Values
MONEY ranked The University of Scranton among the nation’s “Best Colleges for your Money
The University of Scranton is among the best values in college education according to a national ranking published by MONEY magazine that assessed 21 factors related to a school’s academic quality, affordability and outcomes. MONEY’s “Best Colleges for your Money” ranked Scranton No. 167 of the 736 colleges listed. Scranton was the highest ranked school in northeast Pennsylvania and among 24 Jesuit universities listed.
The methodology MONEY used to rank the colleges’ “academic quality” included the six-year graduation rate, the standardized test scores of incoming freshmen, the student-faculty ratio and the “value-added graduation rate,” which compares the school’s actual graduation rate with its expected graduation rate based on its student body profile, among other factors.
The criteria used to assess “affordability” included an estimate of the “net price of a degree,” which assessed tuition, the time it takes for students to graduate, tuition inflation and the school’s average need, merit and athletic financial aid. The “affordability” criteria also looked at student debt, student loan default rates and the affordability for low- and moderate- income students, among other factors.
The criteria used to assess “outcomes” included salaries of alumni reported in PayScale, career services staffing levels based on student enrollment and the “market value of alumni skills,” which is based in the Brookings Institute’s calculation of the market value of skills commonly listed by alumni in their LinkedIn profiles, among other factors.
Earlier this year, a report issued by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program placed The University of Scranton among the top 50 colleges in the nation and second in Pennsylvania based on its earning scale for alumni at mid-career level. The report, which sought to measure the contributions made by colleges to the economic outcomes of its graduates, calculated a 31 percent earnings increase - or “value-added” - of a Scranton education.
In addition, U.S. News & World Report has ranked The University of Scranton as a “Great School at a Great Price” and Scranton is listed in Barron’s “Best Buys in College Education.”
The ranking by MONEY Magazine was published online July 13.
