This Ivy League School Was Ranked The Best College In America

by: Greg Yang on October 21, 2023 | 2,181 Views
This Ivy League School Was Ranked The Best College In America

Yale University was named the best college in America in a recent ranking by WalletHub

Yale University is best college in America, according to a new WalletHub ranking.

The finance website ranked more than 800 higher-education institutions in the United States across 30 key measures to determine the top-performing schools at the lowest possible costs for undergraduates. Ranking data was grouped across seven categories, including student selectivity, cost and financing, and career outcomes.

YALE COMES OUT ON TOP

The Connecticut-based Ivy League school took the top spot ranking highly for metrics such as student selectivity (how difficult it is to gain admission), faculty resources, education outcomes, and career outcomes.

Yale fared poorly when it came to cost and finance, however, as well as campus safety. The total cost of tuition and fees for the 2023-24 year at Yale is a whopping $83,880. That’s nearly six-times as much as in-state tuition at Texas A&M University, which ranked number one for cost and finance.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked number two overall. MIT scored the highest for student selectivity, faculty resources, and education outcomes. MIT scored poorly on cost & finance, however, with a sticker price of $59,750.

Princeton University came in third on the list. The New Jersey Ivy League school ranked highly for student selectivity, faculty resources, campus experience, and education outcomes. Similar to Yale and MIT, Princeton ranked poorly on cost and finance with tuition at $59,710 a year.

Despite having a high sticker price, experts say the Ivy League brand name is worth the cost—especially given the fact that many Ivy League schools offer significant financial aid.

“The sticker price is not the price that students pay,” Tolani A. Britton, Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Education – University of California, Berkeley, says. “Many colleges with high sticker prices also have relatively low net prices, particularly for students who come from working-class families. While college debt is a significant issue for students and families, there is still a positive return to a college degree both fiscally and concerning various social outcomes such as health and civic participation.”

PUBLIC SCHOOLS OFFER STRONG RETURN ON INVESTMENT

A number of public schools showed strong return on investment. A number of the City University of New York colleges ranked highly for cost and financing with CUNY-Baruch College ranking number three and CUNY-Queens College ranking number four.

“Online data indicates that large public universities provide the best return from a long-term perspective,” Rene S. Parmar, Dean of the School of Education at Lehman College, says. “They not only provide an excellent affordable education, but many are highly regarded in terms of research and employment outcomes.”

Other experts agree. Jamel K. Donnor, a Professor of Education at William & Mary Law School, says “…non-profit public universities, after Ivy League and Ivy League Adjacent universities, public colleges and universities, including community colleges, provide the best return on investment, as they are not simply public goods but also sites of hope, opportunity, and innovation.”

WALLETHUB’S BEST COLLEGES IN AMERICA RANKING

Overall Rank* University/College State Total Score** Student Selectivity Rank Cost & Financing Rank Faculty Resources Rank Campus Safety Rank Campus Experience Rank Education Outcomes Rank Career Outcomes Rank
1 Yale University CT 79.07 7 766 7 430 24 3 10
2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA 78.83 1 775 3 357 27 10 22
3 Princeton University NJ 77.55 12 754 12 629 15 6 28
4 California Institute of Technology CA 77.2 2 825 1 709 34 22 1
5 Harvard University MA 76.64 3 797 17 140 147 11 16
6 Duke University NC 76.52 10 818 6 483 104 1 7
7 Rice University TX 76.38 17 789 9 532 34 20 18
8 Northwestern University IL 76.29 9 811 4 227 26 4 33
9 Johns Hopkins University MD 75.96 8 793 5 241 31 21 75
10 Stanford University CA 74.87 5 826 28 316 25 23 47
11 Dartmouth College NH 74.6 13 852 41 647 47 14 11
12 Swarthmore College PA 74.42 18 817 33 800 20 18 63
13 Carnegie Mellon University PA 74.35 22 857 15 99 28 39 2
14 Brown University RI 74.07 11 843 10 451 46 17 26
15 Vanderbilt University TN 74.06 14 844 18 777 42 31 46
16 Georgia Institute of Technology GA 74.02 45 613 765 260 197 32 13
17 Columbia University NY 73.9 6 838 14 191 17 8 37
18 Hamilton College NY 73.9 33 764 48 394 112 41 51
19 University of Florida FL 73.85 58 76 543 105 532 36 242
20 University of Pennsylvania PA 73.79 15 854 24 191 60 2 4
21 Pomona College CA 73.6 16 816 30 665 8 26 83
22 Wellesley College MA 73.53 38 753 55 384 10 55 100
23 Washington and Lee University VA 73.48 44 836 11 602 96 12 17
24 University of California, Berkeley CA 73.45 36 675 778 732 124 15 29
25 University of Chicago IL 73.32 4 855 2 163 48 5 57
26 University of California, Irvine CA 73.23 55 275 664 544 70 60 91
27 Cornell University NY 73.17 19 821 101 229 127 16 38
28 Amherst College MA 72.95 20 798 39 703 38 35 109
29 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor MI 72.92 49 656 302 712 428 24 58
30 University of Notre Dame IN 72.75 30 794 348 279 74 7 40
31 Emory University GA 72.54 37 805 94 247 21 37 60
32 University of California, Los Angeles CA 72.48 32 608 650 785 158 19 67
33 University of Southern California CA 72.41 34 800 170 177 114 25 39
34 Claremont McKenna College CA 72.38 41 822 21 769 3 44 20
35 Northeastern University MA 72.35 29 770 514 126 134 30 43
36 Colby College ME 72.35 26 824 62 604 32 71 32
37 Washington University in St. Louis MO 72.33 23 837 23 401 139 29 21
38 Grinnell College IA 72.22 43 721 38 365 6 74 279
39 University of Virginia VA 71.74 42 755 456 267 364 9 42
40 Harvey Mudd College CA 71.63 21 833 77 622 71 34 14
41 Middlebury College VT 71.3 35 808 63 322 14 28 104
42 Carleton College MN 71.17 50 766 27 412 54 48 177
43 University of California, San Diego CA 71.16 53 522 799 707 82 59 54
44 Vassar College NY 70.83 47 796 31 760 29 38 122
45 Barnard College NY 70.82 24 828 153 152 87 46 86
46 University of Texas at Austin TX 70.62 66 231 721 98 612 58 99
47 Boston College MA 70.41 39 810 452 361 57 49 35
48 Tufts University MA 70.37 27 841 172 220 84 33 55
49 Georgetown University DC 70.04 31 856 256 116 56 13 6

Source: WalletHub

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