PROVIDENCE – Seven Rhode Island colleges were named in the top 711 academic institutions in the country in terms of value and performance for the 2017-2018 academic year according to Money Magazine Magazine’s “Best Colleges For Your Money” rankings on Tuesday.
Schools that were featured were evaluated on 27 factors grouped into three broader metrics each weighed evenly: quality of education (graduation rate, instructor quality, peer quality), affordability (net price of a degree, debt incurred, low-income affordability) and outcomes (graduate earnings, estimated market value of alumni skills, socio-economic mobility among graduates).
Brown University was deemed the highest value school in Rhode Island, ranking at 34th. With an estimated 2017-18 cost of $69,800 without aid, the University is also the most expensive academic institution in the Ocean State on the list.
Salve Regina University and Providence College were ranked relatively close at 160th and 186th respectively, each assuring graduates an early career earning around $50,000.
Bryant University was ranked 232nd while the University of Rhode Island was ranked 284th. Despite having an estimated cost about double that of URI, Bryant offered graduates around the same early career earnings as its less expensive counterpart, $52,500 and $49,600 respectively.
Rounding out Rhode Island’s presence on the top value schools list, The Rhode Island School of Design ranked 521 and Roger Williams University ranked 622, each assuring graduates expected early career earnings of $49,600.
Princeton University ranked highest of any college on the list.
The parameters of qualification for the list required colleges to have had at least 500 students, reliable and analyzable data and a graduation rate at or above the average for its kind of institution. Money Magazine looked at 2,400 colleges for its rankings.
Kyle Borowski is a PBN contributing writer.
