The University of Scranton Ranks Among America’s Best Values According to Forbes

Aug 3, 2015
For the eighth consecutive year, Forbes ranked The University of Scranton among “America’s Top Colleges” based on analysis done by The Center for College Affordability and Productivity that seeks to evaluate a school’s “return on investment” or “value.”
For the eighth consecutive year, Forbes ranked The University of Scranton among “America’s Top Colleges” based on analysis done by The Center for College Affordability and Productivity that seeks to evaluate a school’s “return on investment” or “value.”

Forbes once again counted The University of Scranton among “America’s Top Colleges” based on analysis by The Center for College Affordability and Productivity. The 2015 ranking, published by Forbes online July 29, is intended to evaluate a school’s “return on investment” or “value.” Forbes ranked Scranton No. 240 among the just 650 universities included in the national listing that contained only 40 colleges in Pennsylvania and 25 Jesuit universities. Scranton and King’s College were the only two local colleges listed.

This is the eighth consecutive year that Forbes ranked Scranton among America’s “best values” in college education.

Forbes does not categorize schools by size or institution type in its overall ranking, but does provide separate rankings of public and private colleges and geographic regions in other lists. Scranton ranked No. 177 in Forbes list of the “Top Private Colleges in America,” and No. 99 among the “Top Colleges in the Northeast.”

The methodology used for the ranking examined 12 factors which included four-year graduation rates, average federal student loan debt, student loan default rates and “post-graduate success,” measured by salaries reported in PayScale and alumni who were nationally recognized in lists such as Forbes’ “Power Women” or “30 under 30,” among other factors. Data examined also included “student satisfaction,” measured by Rate My Professors scores and actual and predicted retention rates; and “academic success,” measured by prestigious fellowships won by students, including Fulbright scholarships, among other factors.

Earlier this month, MONEY magazine ranked the University No. 167 of the 736 colleges listed in its “Best Colleges for your Money” publication, which assessed 21 factors related to a school’s academic quality, affordability and outcomes.

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 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.

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