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Rankings Compare College Costs to Future Income

FILE - Prospective students tour Georgetown University's campus in Washington, July 10, 2013.
FILE - Prospective students tour Georgetown University's campus in Washington, July 10, 2013.

Most students and their families quickly dive into rankings when searching for the “best colleges and universities.”

However, Georgetown University, itself on many of those “best college” lists, has veered from rankings based on grade-point averages, admission rates and SAT scores, and come up with a new metric, ranking institutions of higher education based on the financial return students receive from their investment in the school.

Traditional private, four-year schools that offer bachelor’s degrees have the highest returns on investment not just immediately after graduation, but 40 years after enrollment, Georgetown’s report on the ranking says.

“For example, Babson College, a private college in Massachusetts, ranks 304th in net present value at the 10-year horizon, but ranks seventh at the 40-year horizon,” Georgetown’s University Center on Education and the Workforce said. Its detailed project included 4,500 schools that offer degrees and certificates.

Tops on the list for return on investment over 40 years was Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, a private nonprofit institution that costs about $50,000 per year. It was calculated to return $385,000 at 10 years, $1.3 million at 20 years, and $2.72 million on that investment to the graduate after 40 years.

FILE - Students walk on the Stanford University campus, March 14, 2019, in Santa Clara, Calif.
FILE - Students walk on the Stanford University campus, March 14, 2019, in Santa Clara, Calif.

By comparison, the private, nonprofit, four-year Stanford University in California that ranked No. 5 on the Georgetown list would return $307,000 in 10 years, $1.013 million in 20 years; and $2.068 million in 40. Tuition and fees are about the same as Albany College of Pharmacy.

Those calculations are published prices and do not include financial aid discounts.

“Everyone is asking, ‘Is college worth it?’ and we set out to try to find an answer,” said Anthony P. Carnevale, lead author and CEW director in a statement. “Not only will it help students, but this kind of information on the costs and benefits of higher education holds institutions more accountable.”

Carnevale served for a decade as vice president for public leadership at the Educational Testing Service, the largest private nonprofit testing service, which administers the SAT and other tests that are required or highly recommended for admission into higher-education programs.

Data from some obvious affordable schools CEW could not gain access to include the U.S. service academies. Those schools do not collect tuition and fees, and students are given stipends to pay for expenses like dry cleaning, barbers and laundry. Admission and graduation is exchanged for service in the U.S. military after graduation.

And who’s who in Georgetown’s Top 20? Some names you don’t typically see in the popular annual rankings and careers that you won’t find on many other lists. (Hint: Get your sea legs on.)

Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (N.Y.)
St. Louis College of Pharmacy (Mo.)
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Mass.)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Mass.)
Stanford University (Calif.)
Maine Maritime Academy (Maine)
Babson College (Mass.)
Harvard University (Mass.)
Georgetown University (D.C.)
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (N.Y.)
University of the Sciences (Pa.)
St Paul’s School of Nursing-Queens (N.Y.)
Massachusetts Maritime Academy (Mass.)
Harvey Mudd College (Calif.)
Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.)
University of Pennsylvania (Pa.)
California State University Maritime Academy (Calif.)
California Institute of Technology (Calif.)
Colorado School of Mines (Colo.)
Bentley University (Mass.)

No, that’s not a typo, you are reading correctly: Pharmacy and maritime schools offer excellent return on investment along with notable STEM colleges and universities.

For-profit and certificate schools scored the lowest return on investment, and include beauty, rabbinical, ethnic and arts schools.

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Fewer students disclose race in applications to top colleges 

FILE - An unidentified person walks past Harvard yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 7, 2023
FILE - An unidentified person walks past Harvard yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 7, 2023

FAfter the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action in college admissions last year, fewer students are disclosing their race or ethnicity in applications to top colleges.

Writing in USA Today, Zachary Schermele notes that the data is preliminary, but it could signal a change in the way students are approaching college applications. (October 2024)

Overall college enrollment is up, first-year enrollment down 

FILE - A student delivers packages to the dormitory at DePaul University in Chicago, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.
FILE - A student delivers packages to the dormitory at DePaul University in Chicago, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.

For the second year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, college enrollment has climbed in the United States.

But the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center noticed a substantial drop in the number of freshmen, which could be troubling for future enrollment, according to a report in Forbes. (October 2024)

South African universities embrace AI, seeing it as equalizing tool

South African universities embrace AI, seeing it as equalizing tool
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The rise of AI tools like ChatGPT has sparked debate in higher education, raising questions about ethics and integrity in teaching, learning and knowledge creation. In South Africa, some academic institutions are taking a proactive approach, integrating AI into their curricula. Experts say this step is not only innovative but also helps level the playing field among students. Zaheer Cassim reports from Johannesburg.

International students may be able to get jobs at school 

FILE - Northeastern University graduate student Shabbir Hussain, of Indore, India, left, views a computer screen at the entrance to the Snell Library on the Northeastern University campus in Boston on May 24, 2016.
FILE - Northeastern University graduate student Shabbir Hussain, of Indore, India, left, views a computer screen at the entrance to the Snell Library on the Northeastern University campus in Boston on May 24, 2016.

International students studying in the United States may be able to work on campus.

Jobs can include working in libraries, labs, food service and dormitories – but students will have to research the rules before applying for jobs, according to U.S. News & World Report. (September 2024)

Report says college rankings have the potential to mislead

FILE - Students walk at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago.
FILE - Students walk at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago.

Each year, prominent lists of college and university rankings are compiled and released to the public, but a report conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago says those rankings have the potential to mislead.

Writing in Forbes, Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier says changing methodologies can distort results, and profit motives can create doubt. He argues that rankings should be replaced by an objective rating system. (September 2024)

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