Using the recently released government data at college scorecard, I put together a value ranking using the following methodology: First, I sorted schools by average SAT from best through SUNY-Buffalo (based on my state of residence). Then I re-sorted that list by mean, 10-year, male salary in reverse order down through SUNY-Geneseo (again, based on state of residence), which eliminated more schools. For the Merchant Marine Academy I used the 10-year, all salary figure because the male-only figure wasn’t available. Then, in the cases of the USAFA, USMA, USNA, USCGA, and Cooper Union, I extrapolated the 10-year figure, which isn’t available from the government, using PayScale data and comparing it to the PayScale USMMA figure. Finally, I re-sorted one final time by average net in-state total cost (family income of $110,000 or more) for students receiving Title IV funding, from cheapest to most expensive. Aside from the income threshold, this last step differs, for example, from Kiplinger, which uses out-of-state costs rather than in-state figures (which strike me as much more useful for most people).
After doing those three sorts, I weighted each sort equally, i.e. one-third mean SAT, one-third average 10-year male salary, one-third average annual net cost ($110k or more), and, again, chopped off anything ranked below SUNY-Buffalo. The results for the remaining 158 colleges follow below. Reading the list, the first number is the total cumulative “value score.” Then, after each school is the SAT mean, the net total cost mean (as described), and the 10-year male salary mean:
98 Princeton University 1495 32418 137400
106 United States Air Force Academy 1360 0 83700
111 United States Military Academy 1283 0 93900
113 United States Naval Academy 1280 0 94000
118 Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus 1352 14114 82300
123 Harvard University 1501 36946 165800
130 University of Virginia-Main Campus 1362 24427 89900
135 University of Pennsylvania 1442 36163 141000
135 United States Merchant Marine Academy 1267 4275 89000
142 United States Coast Guard Academy 1275 0 85000
143 Columbia University in the City of New York 1471 37510 118800
147 Vanderbilt University 1475 32971 87700
150 California Institute of Technology 1534 37388 95000
151 Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art 1358 18185 74600
151 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 1352 23222 83800
155 Brigham Young University-Provo 1277 16631 84500
163 College of William and Mary 1358 25938 80900
163 University of California-Berkeley 1350 28596 87400
164 Rice University 1454 35553 88600
165 Washington and Lee University 1392 36149 102100
165 University of Notre Dame 1450 37946 101000
166 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1503 41091 151800
167 Stanford University 1466 40323 151100
167 Williams College 1439 37247 95500
168 University of Chicago 1504 40545 118200
174 Yale University 1497 40868 113200
175 Colgate University 1370 32798 88700
176 Pomona College 1454 32232 78400
178 Case Western Reserve University 1377 31989 84100
182 University of Maryland-College Park 1310 21252 74600
182 Colorado School of Mines 1298 27375 86700
183 Harvey Mudd College 1483 38983 91000
183 Amherst College 1434 40162 112700
190 Middlebury College 1391 38912 109200
193 Rhodes College 1288 29086 85600
198 Davidson College 1353 36869 91900
200 Northwestern University 1458 41946 98900
200 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1313 21885 72400
201 Bowdoin College 1423 33007 76600
206 Claremont McKenna College 1397 38669 89400
207 Cornell University 1422 41691 106900
207 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1366 37574 89800
209 Washington University in St Louis 1474 43876 96500
209 Duke University 1444 45034 123000
212 Swarthmore College 1442 38699 83900
213 Dartmouth College 1446 46025 113300
213 University of California-Los Angeles 1289 27167 77800
214 Carnegie Mellon University 1432 43299 108000
214 Johns Hopkins University 1418 41745 97700
214 SUNY at Binghamton 1297 21655 71600
214 University of California-San Diego 1276 26913 79500
218 Brown University 1425 41051 91500
218 Georgetown University 1398 44727 130700
220 Tufts University 1428 44777 111700
221 Hamilton College 1384 35875 79300
223 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1303 26925 73000
226 Stevens Institute of Technology 1305 36777 88600
229 The University of Texas at Austin 1262 23731 74400
230 Trinity University 1270 31394 81500
230 Missouri University of Science and Technology 1263 18182 67900
242 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo 1242 22923 73600
244 University of Florida 1272 16912 65400
247 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 1310 36227 80000
249 The University of Texas at Dallas 1262 15098 65200
A Value Ranking for Upper Middle-Class Males (Part 2):
250 Illinois Institute of Technology 1252 26136 73200
251 Polytechnic Institute of New York University 1303 34088 76400
252 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences 1195 31996 110600
253 University of Rochester 1353 38527 79500
254 Boston College 1375 47048 96200
255 Lehigh University 1322 42404 96400
257 Yeshiva University 1217 26161 78700
263 University of Wisconsin-Madison 1268 22900 66300
264 Santa Clara University 1294 42262 99700
267 Drake University 1240 28944 73900
268 New York University 1352 49384 94400
269 Lafayette College 1283 40902 92100
269 Pepperdine University 1235 33841 85100
270 Villanova University 1316 43047 90800
272 Tulane University of Louisiana 1341 38847 77800
273 University of Washington-Seattle Campus 1234 23637 69600
273 University of the Sciences 1165 27340 91300
274 Northeastern University 1394 39105 72600
274 University of Richmond 1313 41215 85500
275 Babson College 1258 42299 123000
275 Stony Brook University 1253 19252 63800
278 Texas A & M University-College Station 1182 18616 73300
281 Clemson University 1259 14903 60900
282 George Washington University 1297 40468 84600
283 CUNY Bernard M Baruch College 1225 14233 64200
284 Haverford College 1400 38323 67600
284 Milwaukee School of Engineering 1244 26275 67400
286 University of Miami 1332 39592 75000
288 Emory University 1363 44920 82400
288 University of Iowa 1208 16079 66200
289 University of Southern California 1380 46606 81500
289 University of Georgia 1247 14319 60800
289 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 1220 24353 69500
293 Denison University 1285 32468 66800
294 Bucknell University 1306 44500 86200
295 Wesleyan University 1387 40173 70400
296 Purdue University-Main Campus 1211 21612 66900
297 The College of New Jersey 1235 27280 67800
298 Creighton University 1214 30234 74100
300 University of Connecticut 1233 23670 66100
303 Brandeis University 1347 44725 80000
304 Gettysburg College 1282 32839 66500
304 University of Tulsa 1279 30780 64700
306 Colby College 1343 40456 73000
307 SUNY College at Geneseo 1274 20642 59000
307 Bentley University 1234 39304 87100
309 Carleton College 1406 39790 66100
309 Michigan Technological University 1206 20251 65300
310 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 1270 22946 60400
310 Fordham University 1258 38796 78700
310 Illinois Wesleyan University 1241 32008 68700
311 Southern Methodist University 1302 40275 74400
311 Rutgers University-New Brunswick 1210 26648 68600
313 Union College 1313 42179 75300
314 Muhlenberg College 1246 37663 76400
316 Kalamazoo College 1240 31966 67100
317 Wheaton College 1318 33001 62700
319 DePauw University 1215 31899 70600
320 New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology 1200 14384 62500
321 Trinity College 1240 39793 81500
322 University of California-Davis 1192 28976 73000
323 Marquette University 1217 34030 73900
325 North Carolina State University at Raleigh 1229 19500 60700
328 University of Maryland-Baltimore County 1209 21654 63700
330 Kettering University 1198 33332 75400
332 LeTourneau University 1175 24136 69100
336 University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus 1176 21685 66400
337 Boston University 1279 44602 79100
337 Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College 1162 14945 64800
338 Miami University-Oxford 1240 26688 61100
338 Rochester Institute of Technology 1232 31556 66000
338 Auburn University 1215 20142 60000
338 South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 1183 18082 63100
340 Clarkson University 1187 31608 72700
342 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus 1258 29598 60900
346 Saint Louis University 1237 35589 67400
347 University of Delaware 1178 19357 63600
349 Mercer University 1171 21403 64800
351 Vassar College 1394 38047 59100
351 University of California-Santa Barbara 1212 29089 64400
351 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville 1199 19270 59600
354 Indiana University-Bloomington 1198 20534 60900
355 Gustavus Adolphus College 1224 29738 63300
357 University of Denver 1231 37797 71900
361 Michigan State University 1158 22643 66000
365 Butler University 1212 33537 66300
365 University of Alabama in Huntsville 1180 20306 61300
367 Furman University 1237 32772 62900
370 University of the Pacific 1172 39831 85500
371 Bradley University 1163 29780 67800
373 American University 1258 41908 70200
373 University of Missouri-Columbia 1165 20464 61600
375 Westmont College 1193 36206 72100
377 University at Buffalo 1158 19954 61800
In many instances, when kids start college they don’t know what they will major in. And, often times, even when they think they do, they change their mind once they get there. On the other hand, it seems to me that there is value in going to a school and being in an environment with lots of future-economically-motivated students as opposed to few, so to that extent overall averages would be useful.
I don’t understand the mean net school cost comment.
It’s a “if the shoe fits” ranking. Basically, if the student takes out a federal loan – even with relatively well-off parents – his net cost is included in these figures. Note well that, while still pricey, these figures are generally still under sticker price, and in some cases well under.
Yeah, I wondered about the stats as well, as based on a number of sites, RPI has the same middle 50% range as Cornell in Math, and just slightly lower in CR, not a 50+ point diff as indicated here. But maybe different sources use data from different years.
The Economist did a similar “value” ranking where they tried to eliminate the influence of majors by weighting based on the mix of majors of graduates from a particular university.
Isn’t the characterization “upper middle-class” more aspirational than actual? How about calling it the Value Ranking for Boys Whose Parents Are Working Their Tails Off to Send Them to College?
Just because others at the school are in majors leading to well paid jobs does not mean that you will get a well paid job if you choose some other major. Look on page 28 of https://gecd.mit.edu/sites/default/files/about/files/2014-gss-survey.pdf , which is MIT’s career survey. Most MIT graduating seniors find well paying jobs at graduation, but most of them are in engineering, math, and other majors with high major-specific demand. But that does not help those who graduate in biology.
Also, “fast track to Wall Street and consulting” schools like Princeton may have high pay levels for graduates, but if you are not interested in Wall Street and consulting jobs, those high pay levels will not help you.
Also most schools tend to send their graduates to employers in the region. When you factor in the higher cost of living, high taxes, necessity for private schools, etc. along the east and west coasts the list would look a lot different.
Regarding geography, of course your observations are true. On the other hand, I’m not aware of any data that controls for all of these factors, let alone salary by school and major. So the choice is to either not consider salary data at all, or choose an imperfect measure, which this is. In addition, I do think there is meaningful comparisons to be made even with what we have. For example, Williams and Amherst strike me as comparable schools, but there appears to be a material difference in average comparable salaries. Finally, I included the data so that people can, in the end, weigh it for themselves.
For a true college-to-college salary comparison I think you would need to compare the average salary for a school’s graduates for X major with the average salary for X major in that region to give you the “over/under” attributed to the school. That would eliminate the advantage schools have who focus on certain higher-paying majors. But that data might be too difficult (impossible?) to get.
Interesting how high BYU Provo ranks on this list. 4 spots below CalTech? I suppose the extremely low tuition drives the net price down, resulting in a higher ranking.
For a true college-to-college salary comparison I think you would need to compare the average salary for a school’s graduates for X major with the average salary for X major in that region to give you the “over/under” attributed to the school. That would eliminate the advantage schools have who focus on certain higher-paying majors. But that data might be too difficult (impossible?) to get.
[/QUOTE]
That’s right, not available as far as I know.
P.S. Can’t figure out how to quote previous posts to respond. . . .
Not much you can do about it franknd, but I believe the income figures in your source database come from a distinct subset – those students who took out federal loans – that may not accurately represent a college’s graduates in general.