Scranton Ranked Among America’s Best Values

Money magazine ranked The University of Scranton among its list of the nation’s best values for a college education. The 2022 ranking is based on the magazine’s analysis of dozens of data points to evaluate educational quality, affordability and alumni success. Money ranked Scranton at No. 268 among its selection of just 623 “Best Colleges in America,” a ranking of “schools that combine quality and affordability, while admitting at least 20 percent of applicants.”

This is the seventh consecutive time that Money included Scranton in its published list of America’s best values in college education. Scranton was the highest ranked school in Northeastern Pennsylvania listed.

Scranton ranked in the top 15 percent of schools listed for “outcomes.” The factors Money used to assess “outcomes” included the average salaries of students ten years after enrollment based on data from U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard as well as salaries of graduates adjusted by major. In addition to other factors, the “outcomes” criteria looked at socio-economic mobility data from Third Way that measures a college’s share of students from low- and moderate-income backgrounds as well as the cost and payoff of a degree for those students.

The factors Money analyzed to determine a colleges’ “academic quality” included the six-year graduation rate, the standardized test scores of incoming students, the student-faculty ratio and the graduation rate of Pell Grant recipients, among other factors. The analysis also included “value” assessments that looked at a school’s predicted graduation rates based on the academic and economic profile of its student body versus its actual graduation rates.

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, and the school’s average financial aid offered to students. The “affordability” criteria also looked at student debt, student loan default rates, and student loan default rates adjusted for the economic and academic profile of a school’s student body, in addition to other factors.

Colleges with graduation rates below the national median, that were in financial difficulty, or that had fewer than 500 undergraduates, were not included in Money’s ranking. A separate ranking was done for schools that accept fewer than 20 percent of applicants.

Scranton has been recognized for its value in other national rankings such as U.S. News & World Report and The Economist, among others.