PROVIDENCE – Brown University was once again ranked by SmartAsset as the best value college in the Ocean State, the national financial company said in a new report released Wednesday.
The annual report reviews colleges’ values across five categories – tuition, student living costs, scholarship and grant offerings, student retention rate, and starting salary for new graduates – for 2023. According to SmartAsset’s report, Brown had a college education value index of 82.68, noting a median starting salary for graduates at $74,700, with an annual college tuition of $65,450. The average scholarships and grants for the school was $51,907 and the student cost of living was estimated to be $21,636 for a year, per SmartAsset’s report.
Brown has been named SmartAsset’s best value school in each of the eight years since the finance company began conducting the report in 2015. There was no best value colleges report for 2022.
The University of Rhode Island ranked No. 2 in the state in the report with an index value of 61.31. URI students had a median starting salary of $58,500, a college tuition of $16,683, an average of $12,192 in scholarships and grants, and a student cost of living of $19,131.
Providence College ranked No. 3 in SmartAsset’s report with a 56.11 college education value index. The median starting salary is $63,500; a college tuition of $59,623; a student living cost of $19,791; and an average of $30,636 in scholarships and grants.
The other Rhode Island-based colleges noted in SmartAsset’s report are:
- Bryant University: No. 4 with a value index of 51.89 and a median starting salary of $65,200
- Rhode Island College: No. 5 with a value index of 50.88 and a median starting salary of $51,800
- Rhode Island School of Design: No. 6 with a value index of 46.53 and a median starting salary of $61,000
- Salve Regina University: No. 7 with a value index of 42.93 and a median starting salary of $58,200
- Roger Williams University: No. 8 with a value index of 35.50 and a median starting salary of $58,100
- Johnson & Wales University: No. 9 with a value index of 31.02 and a median starting salary of $51,00
The full report
can be read here.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
