2019 Money magazines Best Money for your money…
http://money.com/money/best-colleges/
Money Magazine’s new college rankings finally get it right for students
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/07/13/money-magazines-new-college-rankings-finally-get-it-right-for-students/
Apples and oranges! You can’t compare the in-state costs of public universities with the COA of private universities. For example, the cost of attendance at UCLA (#4 on the list) is $65K for nonresidents, not $35K – and there is virtually no financial aid available for OOS students, unlike at comparable private schools.
I think all college rantings have somewhat of an apples to oranges slant. Having said that, I think it could be a useful tool for some. Particularly those interested in ROI.
It’s harmless enough so long as you keep in mind the usual caveats: choice of majors have the biggest effect on ROI and no one receives an “average grant” (i.e., always run the school’s NPC.)
Fun fact: STEM oriented Harvey Mudd at #136 is only 4 places above “artsy” Wesleyan at #140. Why? The fact that HMC charges more and expects more of its students to take on higher debt probably has somthing to do with it.
The only thing worse than college rankings are college rankings that try to add a value component. People will have very different lists depending upon their household income/wealth and state residency. A $0 EFC, a $80k EFC, and a $1mm EFC student will have very different rankings.
Fore example take UCLA. For an out of state $0 EFC student, they likely are not even in the to 200 colleges. For an instate $80k EFC, they are likely top 2-3. For a $1mm EFC they are maybe top 20-30.
Everyone has their opinion…some food for thought
How To Rank College Ranking Sites
https://www.forbes.com/sites/willarddix/2018/08/29/how-to-rank-college-ranking-sites/#15b1d5e91e82
http://theconversation.com/college-rankings-might-as-well-be-student-rankings-122108
If there were some way to run the net price calculator on every college or university for your financial situation so that you can use your net prices to make up a list of best colleges for your money, that would be a lot more helpful than generic lists.
Although old, the most useful raking is from The Onion https://www.theonion.com/the-onion-s-2014-university-rankings-1819594540 After all, it is “America’s Finest News Source”.
15 Things to Know About U.S. News’ College Rankings…interesting thoughts.
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/15-things-to-know-about-u-s-news-college-rankings/
Lol, of course Money, Forbes, or the rest, want to attract you to their articles, purporting to be authoritative. But you know what PT Barnum said…
The best values depend on you/your student, where they can be the right sort of empowered, grow, and get ready for the next phases of their lives. And that the family can afford.
Who chooses based on what the media says? You’d go to college because a magazine says…?
I am a fan of the list put out by Kiplingers Magazine - https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-best-college-values-college-finder/index.php#Tile
Best Party School(s) for your money?
https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=party-schools
AFAIK there is no way to do that. The College Board’s NPC aggregator may be about as close as it gets. It at least allows you to save your fin data to re-run on other member colleges.
Kiplinger is pretty good, as far as it goes. The problem is that “best for your money” is specific to your income bracket, location, and other factors. Listings like Kiplinger’s only deal in averages.
@ChillDad, there was a thread on the Kiplinger ranking earlier this month:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2152625-kiplingers-20-best-college-values.html
A Different Kind of College Ranking