Baruch College Earns Top Ten Rankings in “Best Colleges 2018” by Money Magazine
#1 in New York State and #1 among public institutions in NortheastAugust 13, 2018
Money magazine placed Baruch College among the top 10 schools on its most recent “Best Colleges 2018” list—a value ranking of 727 institutions throughout the country based on educational quality, affordability and alumni success. On the 2018 list, Baruch College claims high rankings both regionally and nationally:
- #1 among public institutions in the Northeast
- #1 out of 81 public and private colleges in New York State
- #5 “50 Best Public Colleges” in the U.S.
- #8 “727 Best Colleges In America”
- #16 “Most Transformative Colleges in the Country”
According to Money, the schools that top its rankings “deliver a superior education at an affordable price, enabling graduates to avoid heavy debt and succeed in the workplace.”
Baruch College places ahead of such institutions as Yale, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt.
Baruch Among “The Most Transformative Colleges in the Country”
This year, Money added a new sublist to its annual ranking—the “Most Transformative Colleges in the Country.” On this specialty list, Baruch placed #16 as among the impressive colleges that help “students do far better than would be expected from their academic and economic backgrounds.”
To compile this list, Money ranked colleges based on graduation rates, earnings, student loan repayment, and included only those schools with graduation rates above 50%.
“Highest Score” for Socioeconomic Mobility
Baruch earns the #8 spot in Money’s top-ranked colleges for a key reason: the success of its recent graduates. Money reports that Baruch alumni earn an average of $54,500 in their early careers, which is about 16% higher than graduates from similar universities.
In its evaluation, Money states: “Baruch of course does great on the data we use from The Equality of Opportunity Project. It has the highest score for mobility rate of any of the colleges in our ranking. The mobility rate combines a college’s access rate—the share of students from the bottom income quintile—and its success rate—the share of those students who then advance to the top income quintile by their mid-30s.”
Money also calls attention to Baruch’s above-average graduation rates. “Roughly two-thirds of Baruch students graduate within six years — a rate that is nearly 28% higher than at schools with students from similar academic and economic backgrounds.”
Low-Student Debt and Affordability
Money’s calculations found that the average student debt for Baruch students is one of lowest in the country—placing #6 out of the 727 colleges. It also says that attending Baruch is affordable and significantly lower than average—ranking the College #3 among all public and private schools in the top 50, based on the average net price including financial aid.
A Year of Accolades
In addition to Money’s top rankings, Baruch has received national recognitions for academic excellence and value throughout the year. Most recently, The Princeton Review once again named Baruch College as one of the best in America, according to its annual survey of The Best 384 Colleges – 2019 edition. Forbes and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance also ranked Baruch as one of the top colleges for value in 2018.
Money: Reason Behind the Ranking
According to Money, college is now the second-largest financial expense. Buying a home comes in first. Therefore, many students and families are “taking a hard look at the costs and payoffs of any college they consider.”
To compile its data, Money has “has drawn on the research and advice of dozens of the nation’s top experts on education quality, financing, and value to develop a uniquely practical analysis of more than 700 of the nation’s best-performing colleges.
Methodology
Money ranks only U.S. colleges that have sufficient reliable data to analyze and a graduation rate that is at or above the median for its institutional category (public, private or historically black colleges and universities). This filtering resulted into a list of 727 schools, which were then ranked based on 26 factors in three categories: quality of education, affordability, and outcomes. Each category accounts for one-third of the school’s final score.
Calculations were performed by College Measures/American Institutes for Research. Data sources include the Equality of Opportunity Project, Moody’s Analytics, PayScale.com, Peterson’s, Standard & Poor’s, and the U.S. Department of Education.
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