PROVIDENCE – In a fourth consecutive year, Brown University was named the Best Value College among Rhode Island-based higher education institutions by SmartAsset in a study released Wednesday.
Of the nine Rhode Island colleges and universities ranked in the 2018 findings, Brown had the highest average scholarships and grants ($40,116), average starting salary ($63,000) and highest student retention rate (98 percent).
The state’s sole Ivy League school also had the highest cost of the bunch, with a $49,346 tuition charge compared with Rhode Island College’s $8,197 cost – the lowest in the 2018 Rhode Island findings.
The remainder of the ranking – which was based on tuition, living costs, scholarship and grant offerings, retention rate and average starting salary – is as follows:
2. Providence College
3. University of Rhode Island
4. Bryant University
5. Salve Regina University
6. Rhode Island College
7. Rhode Island School of Design
8. Roger Williams University
9. Johnson & Wales University Providence
Providence College overtook URI for second place while Bryant and Salve Regina universities each moved up one respective position in the latest SmartAsset study. RISD, RWU and JWU held the same position in the 2017 ranking as they did this year.
RISD ranked the highest in the student living costs column at $18,800, while Rhode Island College was at the other end of the spectrum at $13,034.
The Ocean State school that awards the least average scholarships and grants, according to SmartAsset, is Rhode Island College at $6,650.
Graduates from Johnson & Wales University have the lowest average starting salary, $44,500, by SmartAsset’s calculations.
The lowest student retention rate, according to the study, is the 74 percent seen at Rhode Island College.
In a nationwide comparison, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., ranked top in the nation with $41,674 in average scholarship and grants awarded, an average starting salary of $81,500 and a 98 percent student retention rate at a cost of $46,704 in tuition and $16,546 in student living expenses.
Brown ranked 23rd in the nation for best value in the 2018 SmartAsset study – an improvement from its position as No. 37 in 2017.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.
