Forbes is out with its annual rankings of U.S. colleges and universities, focusing more than ever on the hot topic of a college degree's return on investment — which it says differentiates its rankings from U.S. News & World Report, among others.
Miami University was the top Cincinnati area college, ranking 167 overall, ahead of Xavier University at 315, University of Cincinnati at 381 and Northern Kentucky University at 626. Other notable area rankings include Indiana University at 112, Ohio State University at 155, University of Dayton at 220, University of Kentucky at 319 and Ohio University at 407.
"While the cost of U.S. higher education escalates, there’s a genuine silver lining in play," Caroline Howard writes in the intro to "America's Top Colleges Ranking 2015." "A growing number of colleges and universities are now focusing on student-consumer value over marketing prestige, making this a new age of return-on-investment education. This pivot is the result of intense public scrutiny on the substantial cost of a degree vs. long tail worth — the very heart of Forbes' definitive Top Colleges ranking, now in its eighth year."
Forbes partnered with the Center for College Affordability and Productivity to rank the top 650 schools on what Howard says distinguishes is "our belief in 'output' over 'input.' We’re not all that interested in what gets a student
into college, like our peers who focus heavily on selectivity metrics such as high school class rank, SAT scores and the like. Our sights are set directly on ROI: What are students getting
out of college?"
Forbes' rankings score colleges on post-graduate success (32.5% of grade), student satisfaction (25%), student debt (25%), academic success (10%) and graduation rate (7.5%).
Read the full Forbes article and rankings here.
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