Baruch College Among Washington Monthly’s “Best Bang for the Buck–North” Colleges 2018
Social Mobility Is Key Factor in the RankingSeptember 7, 2018
Baruch College placed #14 of 400 schools on Washington Monthly’s 2018 “Best Bang for the Buck–North” ranking of private and public colleges and universities in the Northeast. This year’s ranking represents a seven-point jump from #21 in 2017. Among public institutions in the Northeast, Baruch College ranked #5.
Baruch also received top rankings in three key categories for the region:
- #1 in First-Generation Performance
- #5 Pell Performance
- #12 Net Price
A Focus on Social Mobility and Affordability
According to Washington Monthly, these rankings are intended to help “non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices.” The publication ranks four-year schools based on their “contributions to the public good” in three equally weighted categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students); Service (encouraging students to give back); and Research (producing scholarship and graduating PhD students).
Washington Monthly notes, “We give high marks to colleges that enroll lots of low-income students and help them graduate and earn a good living without too much debt.”
Propelling Students Up the Economic Ladder
Baruch College is consistently receiving national recognition for success in advancing social mobility among its diverse student body. In August, The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked Baruch College #1 for social mobility among four-year public institutions, according to its 2018 Almanac of Higher Education, a yearly roundup of major stories and research in the world of higher education.
In the spring, the College was named a 2018 Social Mobility Innovator by CollegeNET and has ranked #1 on CollegeNET’s annual Social Mobility Index for the past three consecutive years. Also this year, Baruch College received top billing in CollegeNET’s e-book Social Mobility Through Higher Education – Best Practices for Student Success and is prominently featured in bestselling author Steven Brill’s latest book Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America’s Fifty-Year Fall–and Those Fighting to Reverse It.
Money magazine recently placed Baruch College among the top 10 schools on its “Best Colleges 2018” list, based on educational quality, affordability, and alumni success. The magazine cited Baruch as among “The Most Transformative Colleges in the Country” that help “students do far better than would be expected from their academic and economic backgrounds.”
The New York Times also recognized Baruch’s success in promoting social mobility in a series of articles that draw from the Equality of Opportunity Project datasets.
Methodology
For more detailed ranking information, go to Washington Monthly’s explanation of its methodology.
# # #