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Study Lists Best Returns on Investments

Study Lists Best Returns on Investments
6/30/2010
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Scholarships.com Staff

You’ve seen lists ranking the “greenest” colleges, those who are the most neighborly, and the schools most concerned about the social good. The latest list released this week from PayScale Inc. ranks colleges based on their Return on Investment (ROI), a calculation they came up with by considering the cost of college against the estimated median salary of a graduate from a particular school, 30 years down the line.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the list of schools that will give you the best return on your money, based on PayScale’s calculations. According to the ranking, you’ll get about a 12.6 percent return on your investment at MIT, or nearly $1.7 million over 30 years. In second place was the California Institute of Technology, with Harvard University coming in third. Private colleges dominated the list, with the first public university, the University of California-Berkeley, not appearing until number 16. The worst deal seemed to be public out-of-state colleges where students must pay higher tuition rates than those attending colleges in their home states. Attending a public college on in-state tuition would then be a pretty good deal.

The Chronicle of Higher Education took the list with a grain of salt, describing the limitations of the ranking. The ranking did not consider the fact that few students actually pay the sticker price of college, with a majority receiving some kind scholarship or grant support. The report also only considered those who would graduate to receive paid salaries or hourly wages, leaving out students who may be doing quite well for themselves as architects or entrepreneurs, two project-based career paths. Finally, the data used to rank the schools was limited in itself, as the information was self-reported and did not include every school.

Still, it isn’t surprising that technology schools topped the rankings this time around. Engineering degrees in particular are consistently ranked among the top 10 highest-paying college majors. Don’t be discouraged if your intended college isn’t on this list or any list, though, or if your intended major isn’t going to lead to the big bucks. Your interest in a school, program, and field of study should be considered above all else. And if you’re new to the process of narrowing down your list of college options, browse through the resources we have on choosing the right school. It’s never too early to start researching!

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