St. Davids, PA: Eastern University is pleased to announce its inclusion in the Money Magazine’s Best Colleges 2017-2018 ranking. Money reviewed 2400 colleges and universities to produce a ranking of 711 higher education institutions considered a Best College for your Money. The rankings are designed to measure a return on investment for a particular college or university.
Money takes into consideration 27 factors in three equally-weighted categories: Quality of Education (graduation rate, value-added graduation rate, peer quality, instructor quality, financial troubles); Affordability (net price, student debt, student loan repayment/default risk, value-added for student loan repayment measures, affordability for low-income students) and Alumni Success (graduate's earnings, earnings adjusted by majors, earnings after ten years, market value of job skills, value-added earnings, job meaning, socio-economic mobility index). The data sources for the rankings were the U.S. Department of Education, Peterson's, PayScale.com and MONEY/College Measures calculations.
Author Kim Clark said in a July 10, online Money Magazine article discussing the rankings titled The Best Colleges for your Money, “This year we gave weight to new data developed by Stanford economist Raj Chetty that shows how many low-income students schools propelled into the upper middle class over the past 20 years—pointing to colleges that help students achieve the American dream.”
Provost Dr. Kenton Sparks said of the outcomes experienced by Eastern University graduates, "Many students and parents, when considering their college options, focus more on the cost than on life impact. The simple fact is that Eastern University graduates thrive in life, both personally and financially. The educational experience we offer is well worth the investment."